Brain Tumor Program

The Brain Tumor Program

The Brain Tumor Program at The University Hospital offers a comprehensive, multi-specialty, neurosurgical center providing the most advanced care for brain tumors available in New Jersey. The state-of-the-art modalities routinely employed at the Brain Tumor Program provide minimal invasion and maximum precision in the treatment of brain tumors for adults and children. This service includes the expertise of Drs. Liu, Gandhi, and Carmel to treat a wide range of neurologic tumors.

The program pioneered the use of intra-operative MRI scans, and University Hospital was the first hospital in the U.S. to utilize a compact OR-based MRI system to obtain “real-time” images of the brain before, during and after surgery. The hospital has installed the second generation of this technology. The precise nature of these images ensures surgical navigation that minimizes risk of harming healthy and/or eloquent areas of the brain while providing maximum lesion removal.

Program continually pioneers new techniques and technologies for the treatment of brain tumors in children, and successfully treated many craniopharyngiomas. Advanced, computer-assisted, minimally invasive surgery, radiosurgery, and single-dose and fractionated radiation therapy for the treatment of brain tumors are utilized in the most effective combination for each patient. The program utilizes state-of-the-art 3T MRI imaging in the detection of brain tumors and intraoperative MRI makes treatment of tumors more effective.

Skull Base Team Approach

Using a multi-disciplinary team approach, we provide our patients the expertise of neurosurgeons, neuro-otologists, rhinologists, head and neck surgeons, plastic surgeons, orbital surgeons, neuro-ophthalmologists, neurointerventionalists, radiation oncologists, neuro-oncologists, neurologists, geneticists, and endocrinologists. Patients also receive compassionate care from specialists in physical therapy, speech therapy, respiratory therapy, and rehabilitation. Our skull base team aims to safely remove the skull base tumorwhile preserving neurological function with the best cosmetic outcome. Dr. Liu collaborates with specialists from the Division of Otolaryngology including Dr. Soly Baredes, Dr. Robert Jyung, Dr. Jean Anderson Eloy, and Dr. Eric Cohen.

Endoscopic Skull Base Surgery

Dr. Liu and Dr. Jean Anderson Eloy, Director of Rhinology and Endoscopic Sinus Surgery, lead the endoscopic skull base team where intracranial tumors located underneath the base of the brain can be safely removed throughthe nostrils using cutting edge endoscopes. This surgical innovation avoids the need to make an incision on the head or face and avoids opening the skull with a craniotomy, resulting in quicker recovery and shorter hospital stays. Large invasive pituitary tumor removed endoscopically through the nose in a patient with decreased vision. Postoperative MRI shows complete removal with improved visual function in the patient. Pituitary gland was preserved.

Acoustic Neuroma Program

The Acoustic Neuroma Program, led by Dr. Liu and Dr. Robert Jyung, Director of Neuro-Otology, is affiliated with The Neurofibromatosis Center of New Jersey and offers comprehensive care for patients with acoustic neuromas (vestibular schwannomas) and other skull base tumors. Patients are given state-of-the-art treatments including hearing preservation approaches, keyhole laser microsurgery, endoscopic-assisted surgery, and stereotactic radiosurgery.

Conditions We Treat

The Center for Skull Base and Pituitary Surgery provides comprehensive treatment of:

• Pituitary tumors
• Acromegaly
• Cushing’s disease
• Prolactinoma
• Acoustic neuromas
• Vestibular schwannomas
• Trigeminal schwannomas
• Jugular foramen schwannomas
• Meningiomas
• Skull base tumors
• Chordoma
• Chondrosarcoma
• Craniopharyngioma
• Petrous apex tumors
• Cholesterol granulomas
• Brain stem tumors
• Cavernous sinus tumors
• Pineal region tumors
• Intraventricular tumors
• Rathke’s cleft cyst
• Glomus jugulare tumors
• Jugular foramen tumors
• Malignant sinonasal tumors
• Esthesioneuroblastoma
• Sinonasal undifferentiated carcinomas
• Adenoid cystic carcinomas
• Squamous cell carcinomas
• Juvenile nasopharyngeal angiofibromas
• Orbital tumors
• Epidermoid tumors
• Dermoid tumors
• Germ cell tumors
• Cerebrospinal fluid leaks
• Encephalocoeles
• Trigeminal neuralgia
• Hemifacial spasm
• Glossopharyngeal neuralgia