Surgery for Brain Tumors at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia

Pediatric brain tumor patients have a particular advantage when coming to The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia because of the extensive experience of our neurosurgeons and the close collaboration between neurosurgery, neuro-oncology, radiation oncology and diagnostic radiology. When operating on a brain tumor, the goal of CHOP's neurosurgery team is to be aggressive in removing as much of the cancer as possible, while being careful not to damage delicate structures in the brain. Our surgeons take the best of the standard care that is available to brain tumor patients, and push that standard to the next level to improve on existing surgical approaches. If there is a treatment here that's not available elsewhere, like a research protocol or proton beam therapy, we'll recommend the patient be treated at CHOP. But in those cases where our oncologists recommend the same treatment a patient could receive at their local hospital, we'll recommend that they stay close to home, and work with the outside physician to coordinate a treatment plan with an outside physician.