Nearly 150,000 Americans annually are diagnosed with cancer that has metastasized, or traveled, to the brain. The number is projected to rise. Because of a larger aging population, combined with improvements in cancer screening and care, up to 30 percent of patients with solid tumor cancers (mainly lung cancer, breast cancer, melanoma, genitourinary cancers, and renal cell carcinoma) can expect their cancer to spread to the brain.
Duke Cancer Institute (DCI) is addressing the needs of these patients head-on. This past fall, DCI, in collaboration with the Department of Neurosurgery and the Translating Duke Health Initiative, launched the Duke Center for Brain and Spine Metastasis — an outgrowth of the Duke Brain Metastasis Program.
Co-directing the new multi-disciplinary center are neurosurgeon Peter Fecci, MD, PhD, breast oncologist Kimberly Blackwell, MD, and radiation oncologist John Kirkpatrick, MD, PhD.
Read entire article on the Duke Cancer Institute Blog