The Hermelin Brain Tumor Center at the Henry Ford Neuroscience Institute is among the few institutions in the country to analyze a tumor's DNA and use that genetic fingerprint which may soon allow us to determine the most effective treatment, specifically for an individual patient.
Personalized Treatment Planning
Every Wednesday, the Henry Ford brain tumor team meets to review each patient's diagnostic studies, any prior and current therapies, and present medical state. This weekly multidisciplinary conference is one of the busiest in the nation and includes 20 medical professionals from different specialties.
Patients of the Hermelin Brain Tumor Center receive the most advanced therapies in the country, with more than 40 percent electing to participate in research and clinical trials. Our team offers a wide range of advanced therapies including novel chemotherapy, gene therapy, and anti-invasion and anti-angiogenesis agents with delivery methods designed to minimize toxicity.
Henry Ford Hospital also is a pioneering institution in the use of Novalis® Shaped Beam Radiation Therapy™ and standard 3-D conformal radiation therapy with IMRT for primary and metastatic brain tumors.
Specializing in Metastatic Brain Tumors
The Hermelin Brain Tumor Center is a national leader in aggressively treating brain metastases, or tumors arising elsewhere in the body and traveling to the brain. Patients with lung, breast, colon, prostate and other malignancies who also have brain malignancies routinely come to Henry Ford for the most advanced treatment modalities.
Steven N. Kalkanis, M.D., co-director of the Hermelin Brain Tumor Center and director of our Brain Metastasis Program, recently completed a set of comprehensive national guidelines for the treatment of brain metastases. Under Dr. Kalkanis's direction, a multidisciplinary team of experts in neurosurgery, radiation oncology, medical oncology and neuro-oncology from around the country outlined the best treatment options for brain metastases. These options include surgery, radiation, chemotherapy, stereotactic radiosurgery, and novel drug therapies, as well as combinations of these treatments. These guidelines, adopted by the American Association of Neurological Surgeons and the Congress of Neurological Surgeons, were implemented first for patients at Henry Ford Hospital.
State-of-the-Art Imaging and Diagnostics
The Hermelin Brain Tumor Center uses leading technology for testing before, during and after surgery:
Magnetoencephalography (MEG) and 3-Tesla MRI, to help define the tumor in relation to the patient's eloquent brain centers
Electroencephalography (EEG), to evaluate physiological and functional changes of the brain
Wada studies, to provide information on which hemisphere of the brain has primary control of speech and language function
3D-MR spectroscopy and 3D neuro-imaging, to provide accurate guidance during tumor removal
Neural monitoring, to track brain and spinal cord function during tumor removal
Awake craniotomies with brain mapping, to provide the safest surgery with maximum tumor removal while preserving speech and motor function
