Brain Tumour Service (Neuro-Oncology)

Our Brain Tumour Service is a pioneering specialist centre offering high-quality treatment and care to patients with all forms of brain or spinal tumours. Our service aims to pave the way for breakthroughs in the treatment and understanding for the benefit of anyone affected in the UK.

Our service provides care to the people of north and east London and west Essex, but is also a specialist centre that accepts referrals from across the country and worldwide.

We have five specialist multi-disciplinary teams (MDTs), these are for: brain tumours, skull base tumours, pituitary tumours, spinal tumours and rehabilitation and non-surgical care.

Care for patients with brain tumours takes place across a number of hospital sites. The National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery (NHNN) at Queen Square is the main centre for surgery, therapy involvement and where the clinical nurse specialists (CNSs) are based.

The University College Hospital Macmillan Cancer Centre is a £100million state-of-the-art facility equipped with the latest technology to diagnose and treat cancer. This is where chemotherapy is delivered and where many of the oncology outpatient clinics take place.

Our world class radiotherapy services are equipped with the latest radiation technology to provide a wide range of specialist and state-of-the-art treatments. These include Rapidarc Intensity Modulated Radiotherapy (IMRT) and stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) which is delivered using both the gamma knife based at NHNN, and the Trubeam Linear Accelerator at University College Hospital. In addition, the Grafton Way Building houses one of only two NHS proton beam therapy centres in the UK.

Patients may be asked to travel to London to receive specialist care for their brain or spinal tumour, but will continue to be supported by their local services such as GP or local hospital closer to home. We work closely with local hospitals, GPs and other community services to ensure a smooth transfer of your care between different hospitals.

Brain and spinal tumours can be cancerous (malignant) or not cancerous (benign) and this will have an impact on the treatment you receive and where this may take place. You will have the opportunity to discuss this with your lead clinician and will have access to a dedicated CNS.

Brain and spinal tumours are rare conditions, but they can cause significant problems for patients and carers. They require a variety of different specialists to assess and manage them - this is a multi-disciplinary team (MDT). The team meet once a week to formally review and discuss cases. Patients will then meet the most appropriate member of the team to discuss the proposed treatment plan.