Skull Base Tumor Program

The Skull Base Tumor Program at MD Anderson Cancer Center is committed to providing the best care available for patients with benign or malignant tumors affecting the skull base.

MD Anderson is one of the few cancer centers in the country with a specialized program for tumors of the skull base. The Skull Base Tumor Program joins together experts from multiple departments to provide each patient with comprehensive, individualized care, all within the MD Anderson setting. The multidisciplinary team of health care professionals includes surgeons, oncologists, ophthalmologists, radiologists, pathologists and rehabilitation specialists. Working as a cohesive unit, these specialists utilize innovative technology to provide the very latest diagnostic, treatment and reconstructive options available.

Affiliated with both the Head and Neck Center and the Brain and Spine Center, our surgeons have extensive experience and are respected internationally for their ability to treat a wide range of tumors in this delicate and complex area. Facial reanimation and complex craniofacial reconstruction are also provided by highly specialized Plastic Surgery clinicians in the Center for Reconstructive Surgery.

Diagnosis and Imaging

Accurate diagnosis and staging are essential to formulating each patient’s individualized treatment plan, and key to this effort is advanced diagnostic imaging techniques. At MD Anderson, we employ specialized magnetic resonance (MR) imaging exams tailored to the unique anatomy of the skull base to yield detailed information about tumor location and extent, which enables our surgeons, oncologists and radiation oncologists to accurately stage and precisely plan their surgeries and treatments to maximize therapeutic benefit. For specific tumor types, we also rely on positron emission tomography (PET) imaging with FDG and DOTATATE radiotracers to evaluate the functional and biologic metrics of skull base tumors. These PET radiotracers can highlight regions of tumor not visible with skull-based MR exams, provide certainty in inconclusive cases and accurately diagnose recurrence in the setting of complex post-treatment anatomy. This advanced imaging is performed and interpreted by board-certified neuroradiologists and nuclear medicine physicians with expertise in the imaging of skull-base pathologies, so that treating doctors and patients can be assured of detailed and quality imaging reports that can be relied upon for expert-level care.

Personalized Treatment

Treatment for tumors of the skull base may involve surgery, radiation therapy, chemotherapy or a combination of therapies. Surgeons in the Skull Base Tumor Program use both open and minimally invasive diagnostic and surgical approaches, depending on each patient's unique characteristics. For patients with tumors that are responsive to irradiation, radiation oncologists plan three-dimensional treatment algorithms for the precise delivery of radiation therapy. And with MD Anderson's Proton Therapy Center, proton radiation therapy now provides an additional treatment option for patients with specific tumors that are well suited to this innovative, state-of-the-art therapy.