Illinois CyberKnife, Lutheran General partnership creates local brain tumor clinic

Park Ridge-based Illinois CyberKnife and Advocate Lutheran General Radiation Oncology have partnered to establish The Brain and Spine Tumor Clinic at Advocate Lutheran General Hospital. The clinic is an effort aimed at decreasing the time between a brain tumor diagnosis and treatment. Patients will be accepted beginning June 1.

The Brain and Spine Tumor Clinic brings together the facilities and expertise of Advocate Lutheran General and the advanced technology of Illinois CyberKnife to offer a collaborative approach to brain tumor treatment in one location. Newly diagnosed brain tumor patients will meet simultaneously with a neurosurgeon and a radiation oncologist to accelerate the treatment planning process.

Local physicians comprising the treatment team at The Brain and Spine Tumor Clinic include Illinois CyberKnife radiation oncologist James Ruffer, MD, and Advocate Lutheran General neurosurgeons George Bovis, MD, Shaun O'Leary, MD, and John Ruge, MD.

“Patients are typically looking for a swift response following a brain tumor diagnosis,” said Dr. Ruffer. “By pulling together our resources, we will be able to offer patients the quick action they are seeking following such a diagnosis.”

The Brain and Spine Tumor Clinic allows patients to explore treatment options for their diagnosis with two specialists at a single location. Patients who are candidates for CyberKnife treatment will be referred to Illinois CyberKnife at Advocate Lutheran General Hospital. CyberKnife is a robotic radiosurgery system that treats malignant and benign tumors with a procedure known as stereotactic radiosurgery, a noninvasive method of treating tumors with very precise, high-dose radiation beams.

Patients who have recently received a brain tumor diagnosis can contact The Brain and Spine Tumor Clinic at 847-723-8030. The clinic is located on the campus of Advocate Lutheran General Hospital at 1700 Luther Lane, Suite 1110, in Park Ridge.