Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center’s Multidisciplinary Brain Metastasis Clinic (MBMC) offers world-class, coordinated, and timely care for people with tumors that have spread to the brain. The team of dedicated experts is led by MSK neurosurgeon Nelson Moss and MSK radiologist Kathryn Beal, who use innovative technology and state-of-the-art treatments tailored to each patient.
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Dr. Nelson Moss
At Memorial Sloan Kettering, we have an unrelenting focus on cancer.
Cancer care is complicated enough, and the whole point of this Multidisciplinary Brain Metastasis Clinic is to really make life easy for patients.
Metastatic brain cancer is when a patient’s cancer that started growing in their body has spread to their brain. This unfortunate complication occurs in some 25% of patients with cancer.
Dr. Kathryn Beal
Brain metastases represent a special kind of disease that has to be addressed separately than the rest of the body.
Squeeze my fingers.
Dr. Nelson Moss
We have an entire infrastructure surrounding the care of these patients — from medical oncology, radiation oncology, and surgery, to all of the other very important services in caring for these patients.
Dr. Kathryn Beal
What’s the interval of time between her original diagnoses?
We present each patient at a tumor board in the morning, where we have representatives from all the different specialties reviewing all aspects of the patient’s care.
Doctor 1
The edema has increased markedly since April.
Dr. Kathryn Beal
What the current state of their brain metastasis is, what prior treatments they may have had, what clinical trials might be available for them.
When a patient has multiple opinions before they even walk in the room, it is a very efficient process for the patient.
Nurse 1
What time are you planning to bring her in?
Dr. Nelson Moss
Our team is supported by a set of nurses and nurse practitioners, office staff, that help coordinate all of the relevant scans that they need and all of their treatments.
Dr. Kathryn Beal
You could just put it right there, that’s fine, yes.
Memorial Sloan Kettering has absolutely the latest and greatest in terms of technology for treating brain metastases.
With the precise radiation that we now give, called stereotactic radiosurgery, we’re very effective at controlling each of their brain metastases and really minimizing any side effects from the radiation.
Dr. Nelson Moss
Patients also have access to the latest surgical technologies, including minimally invasive laser oblation and microsurgical technologies, which allow us to most delicately remove their tumors while preserving their normal brain function.
Dr. Kathryn Beal
In addition, we are using a new technique where we use something called brachytherapy, which is a form of internal radiation that helps to eliminate any potential cancer cells that may be left behind and will help prevent the tumors from regrowing.
Doctor 2
So if you visualize where you are anatomically…
Dr. Nelson Moss
MSK is a world leader in metastasis research.
Every year there are new treatments that are coming out that really improve the outcomes of these patients.
All of these things together are really moving the needle and, in an increasing number of cases, is even curing patients or providing them really long-term control of their disease.
Dr. Kathryn Beal
There’s no greater pleasure than having these patients come into my clinic every three to four months still, get their brain MRI, and for me to tell them that their brain is clean, and that they are fine. There truly could be no better joy in the world.
Patient 1
Thank you so much for everything you guys have done.
