Barts and The London Cancer Centre
We provide a comprehensive service for patients with tumours of the brain and spine. Our neurosurgical services are provided within Barts and The London Centre for Neurosciences based at The Royal London Hospital.
Mr Andrew Elsmore, consultant neurosurgeon, has a special interest in surgical neuro-oncology, whilst other consultant members of the team also perform surgery for brain and spine tumours.
We are able to perform intraoperative cortical mapping for patients with tumours that are close to crucial functional parts of the brain. This involves surgery whilst the patient is awake, and the tumour can be removed while the vital areas of the brain that must be protected can be identified by electrical stimulation. This reduces the risks of the surgery causing neurological problems.
For patients with some types of brain tumour, wafers (known as gliadel wafers) containing chemotherapy agents can be placed in the cavity left after removal of the tumour. The chemotherapy spreads directly into the brain from the wafers and slows the recurrence of the tumour.
Our regional services in neurology, neuroradiology and neurophysiology are also based at The Royal London and Barts, along with other multi-disciplinary team departments such as physiotherapy, speech and language therapy and occupational therapy.
We have close links with Macmillan palliative care services and St Joseph's Hospice.
A comprehensive radiotherapy and oncology service is provided for our patients by Dr Nick Plowman at Barts.
A joint neuro-oncology clinic involving Mr Elsmore and Dr Plowman is held weekly at Barts and regular multi-disciplinary team meetings are also held at Barts.
Stereotactic radiosurgery treatment is provided to our patients by Mr Elsmore and Dr Plowman who are both treating consultants at our gamma knife facility. This treatment is for patients with metastatic disease and patients with primary brain tumours.
We treated 123 surgical patients in 2006.
Professor Marino, professor of neuropathology, is a member of our multidisciplinary team, and has conducted laboratory-based research into stem cells and brain tumours.
Cancerbackup - www.cancerbackup.org.uk/Cancertype/Brain