Brain Tumors

If your child has a brain tumor, they need care from top specialists who offer the best available treatments. At Atrium Health Levine Children’s, our pediatric neuro-oncologists, neurologists and neurosurgeons have treated many types of brain tumors in all kinds of kids. This gives us the experience to match your child with the right therapies for their cancer and to minimize long-term effects.

Brain tumors we treat include:

• Pediatric brain and spine tumors, including medulloblastomas and gliomas.
• Neurofibromatosis-related tumors, which are caused by a genetic condition called neurofibromatosis.
• Tuberous sclerosis, a genetic disorder that can cause brain tumors. We’re home to a tuberous sclerosis clinic that gives these children the best possible care.
• Cancer predisposition syndromes, which make children more likely to have a tumor. Our doctors use the latest technologies to evaluate and monitor these children so we can detect tumors early, when they’re most treatable.

Brain tumors – what to expect from Levine Children’s

Here’s why families from across the Southeast come to Levine Children’s for brain tumor treatment:

• Specialized physicians. Our doctors, including neuro-oncologists and hematologist-oncologists, have special training in treating pediatric brain tumors. They’re experienced with the latest therapies, giving your child the best chance of a good outcome.
• Innovative treatments. We offer the newest, most effective therapies – including clinical trials of promising treatments only available at a handful of hospitals.
• Comprehensive support. Brain tumors can affect every part of a child’s life, from their self-esteem to their schoolwork. Our care team includes everyone from child psychologists to tutors to child life specialists. This helps your child cope with their disease and transition back to home and school.
• Outstanding care after surgery. When children need surgery to remove brain tumors, our pediatric intensive care unit is specially designed to help them recover. We’re also home to North Carolina’s only pediatric inpatient rehabilitation center, which can help your child get back to being as healthy and strong as possible.
• Long-term care. Cancer and its treatments can have a lifelong impact. When our patients turn 26, we transition them to our adult program at Levine Cancer Institute. This lets patients stay with a healthcare organization they know and trust.
• Expert partners. We collaborate with groups that are home to a broad range of specialists. This enables us to bring in outside experts who make your child’s care team even better. Our partners include Carolina Neurosurgery & Spine Associates (CNSA) and the Southeast Radiation Oncology Group (SERO).

Treatments for pediatric brain tumors

Our team works together to evaluate your child’s tumor and create a personalized treatment plan. We offer leading-edge therapies, including:

• Chemotherapy, medicines that kill cancer cells. Some children may be eligible for high-dose chemotherapy with stem cell rescue. This means doctors first give high doses of chemotherapy to increase the chances of destroying a tumor. Then, because this high-dose treatment can also harm healthy cells, we give children new cells to help them recover.
• Radiation therapy using high doses of energy to target cancer cells and shrink tumors.
• Surgery, where our pediatric neurosurgeons remove tumors while preserving as much healthy tissue as possible. Our partnership with CNSA means we can bring in highly specialized neurosurgeons for children with complex tumors.
• Developmental therapeutics, connecting children whose brain tumors keep coming back with innovative therapies through clinical trials. These trials connect children with the latest treatments and give doctors information that helps improve future therapies.