Brain tumor - this diagnosis is a dramatic break in the lives of those affected and their relatives. They are suddenly confronted with many fears and questions. At the Brain Tumor Center of the Inselspital in Bern, one of the five Swiss neuro-oncology centers, patients with malignant and benign tumors in the brain receive comprehensive advice, treatment and support.
At our Brain Tumor Center, specialists from different fields work very closely together. The task of the center is to coordinate this cooperation of experts across their specialties and to focus on the needs of patients and their relatives.
While patients with benign tumors are usually cured by gentle and complete surgical removal, in the case of malignant tumors or brain metastases, the microsurgical operation must usually be supplemented by chemotherapy and/or radiation therapy.
The neuro-oncology team of the Inselspital in Bern has made a film on the occasion of World Brain Tumor Day 2022 to increase public awareness of the disease. In our film "Hand in Hand", we present some of our employees on behalf of the entire team. Our film gives all interested parties an informative insight into how many different activities and specialized work steps are necessary to offer high-quality patient-oriented brain tumor therapy. The film is only available in German.
University Cancer Center Inselspital
The Brain Tumor Center of the Inselspital in Bern is part of the University Cancer Center Inselspital (UCI). The UCI is one of the leading Swiss centers for cancer treatment with a very broad range of oncological services and recently celebrated its 5th anniversary. The UCI coordinates the collaboration of highly qualified experts from various disciplines - across the boundaries of clinics, institutes and departments. The aim is to offer people with cancer and their relatives holistic and high-quality advice, care and treatment in all phases of the cancer disease.
Tumor Board
In order to find the optimal therapy for each individual patient, each brain tumor case is discussed within the framework of our neuro-oncological tumor board. In this way, we can ensure that patients with brain tumors or brain metastases always receive the best current therapy. The tumor board takes place weekly. There, experts from the fields of
Advanced Practice Nurse (APN)
In addition to highly specialized medical therapy, our nursing experts Advanced Practice Nurses (APNs), who specialize in the care of tumor patients, also play a key role in ensuring that those affected and their families feel comprehensively treated and cared for during the course of the disease. Our 7 APNs have extensive experience with tumor patients and fully understand the fears and concerns of their patients.
The role of the nursing expert APN was established at the Department of Neurosurgery at Inselspital as part of an innovative project. It serves as targeted support in the fight against cancer and complements the work of our physicians.
Insight into the work of an APN
Patients with complex care needs and/or a chronic illness are cared for by nurse practitioners (Advanced Practice Nurses or APNs) at Inselspital. These nurses, who are trained to master's level, are constant contact persons and help patients to learn how to manage their illness themselves by means of counseling and coaching. This film sheds light on the diverse range of tasks performed by these specialized nurses.
Quality in brain tumor therapy
Therapy at our Brain Tumor Center at Inselspital is carried out according to recognized guidelines and international standards, but also according to new alternative and innovative methods.
Our goals
- We treat our patients according to recognized international standards and guidelines.
- We optimize standard therapy by optimizing concomitant factors: OPTIMISST protocol Inselspital.
- We apply new treatment protocols to patients with recurrences.
- We conduct clinical trials with new, innovative treatments
The hopes of many patients rest on medical research. Time and again, it brings us an important step forward in the direction of better therapy for our patients. Participation in national and international clinical trials ensures high quality in the treatment and care of tumor patients. It has been scientifically proven that patients in clinical trials show the best results in terms of quality of life and treatment success.
Dialog with our patients is very important to us. We want to discuss the diagnosis, the different treatment options, the participation in clinical trials and the reasons for our therapy proposal with our patients in a way that they can understand and comprehend everything.
Excellence through certification
The Brain Tumor Center under the direction of Neurosurgery has been certified according to the criteria of ISO 9001:2015 and the German Cancer Society since 2016. It is thus one of 5 neuro-oncology centers in Switzerland that has achieved certification by the German Cancer Society (DKG). The certification is considered a guarantee for a high quality standard in oncological treatment. To retain it, proof must be provided annually that the high professional requirements for the treatment of a tumor disease continue to be met and that the center has an established quality management system. The entire certification system and thus also the performance of the required audits are supervised by the independent institute OnkoZert.
Certified centers are networks of inpatient and outpatient facilities in which all disciplines involved in the treatment of a cancer patient work closely together. In addition to surgeons, radiation oncologists, pathologists, experts in drug-based tumor therapy and other disciplines, they also include oncology nurses, psychooncologists and social workers.