Ray Aponte braved the harrowing experiences of war. Yet, he was never more terrified than when he learned he had a malignant brain tumor – one that, if he survived, would threaten his ability to talk or move for the rest of his life. See how Ray’s awake brain surgery and personalized targeted drug treatments are enabling him to live his life to the fullest.
The Center for Hope Foundation and the Overlook Foundation provide patients, families and supporters with a way to make a difference in the lives of those impacted by brain tumors.
While there is no cure for gliomas – and they are challenging to manage because they grow within the brain and inevitably reoccur – there are very effective treatments.
At the Gerald J. Glasser Brain Tumor Center, two clinical trials to evaluate the potential role of immunotherapy – specifically immune checkpoint inhibitors – in patients with glioblastoma are currently underway.
Chemotherapy … with all of its wondrous outcomes … can cause many side effects. What’s the best way to combat them? A combination of medical and holistic approaches can be very effective in relieving nausea, constipation, fatigue and low blood cell counts.
At the Glasser Brain Tumor Center, our multidisciplinary team – including our social work navigator – work closely with patients and their families, providing appointment scheduling, referrals and other support as well as the counseling that enables emotional and mental wellbeing.
Removing gliomas as safely and completely as possible requires years of experience and a deep understanding of the brain’s three-dimensional anatomy and functional relationships. Today, this expertise is supported by technological advances that enable more precise, less-invasive tumor removal.
For decades, examining a biopsy under the microscope is where the diagnosis of a brain tumor began ... and ended. However – since different tumors often appear to be alike under the microscope – the precise diagnosis was often questionable, leaving doctors and patients unsettled. Today’s current approach goes much further thanks to molecular testing.
When the CyberKnife radiosurgery program opened at Overlook Medical Center in 2004, it was considered a novel technological advancement that still needed to prove itself in the treatment of brain cancer. Today, our center is the largest CyberKnife program in New Jersey.
Investigational clinical trials are at the heart of innovation in brain tumor treatment. At the Gerald J. Glasser Brain Tumor Center, we have a robust clinical trial research infrastructure in place.