A brain tumor is a mass of unnecessary cells growing in the brain. There are two types of brain tumors: primary and metastatic. Primary brain tumors start growing in the brain and tend to stay there. Metastatic brain tumors begin as cancer in another part of the body and then spread to the brain.
Brain tumors can destroy brain cells and produce inflammation and pressure on the brain.
Our patients with brain tumors are treated in Moores Cancer Center’s Brain Tumor Center. See Brain Tumor Center for more information.
There are many types of brain tumors, each with a different prognosis and treatment. UC San Diego uses a multidisciplinary approach to the treatment of brain tumors, including a weekly conference where patient information is reviewed by specialists in neurosurgery, neurology, radiology, and radiation oncology to identify a specific treatment plan for each patient. See Brain Tumor Center for more information.
Conditions treated at UC San Diego include:
- Acoustic neuroma
- Arteriovenous malformations (AVM)
- Astrocytoma
- Brain metastases
- Cavernous angiomas
- Craniopharyngioma
- Ependymoma
- Germinoma
- Glioblastoma multiforme
- Glioma
- Medulloblastoma (PNET, primitive neuroectodermal tumor)
- Meningioma
- Oligoastrocytoma
- Oligoendroglioma
- Pineal tumors
- Pituitary tumors
UC San Diego Neurological Institute has assembled a team of internationally recognized experts in neuro-oncology, neurosurgery, neuropathology and neuroimaging for the comprehensive research and treatment of benign and malignant brain tumors. For more information, see Brain Tumor Treatments.