When faced with a tumor involving the skull base, choosing the right treatment partner can make a difference. The Skull Base Tumor Program at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center is committed to providing the best care available for patients with benign or malignant tumors affecting the skull base.

M. D. 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 M. D. Anderson setting. The multidisciplinary team of health care professionals in the Skull Base Tumor Program 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 and treatment 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 tumors in this delicate and complex area. Program co-directors Ehab Y. Hanna, M.D., FACS, of the Department of Head and Neck Surgery, and Franco DeMonte, M.D., FRCSC, FACS, of the Department of Neurosurgery, lead this team of experts in treating patients with a wide range of tumors.

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 the opening of M. D. Anderson's Proton Therapy Center in 2006, 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.

Download the Skull Base Tumor Program Brochure (pdf).