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Ben and Catherine Ivy Center for Advanced Brain Tumor Treatment
Ben and Catherine Ivy Center for Advanced Brain Tumor Treatment
Our Approach
The Ivy Center is a premier brain tumor treatment center in the Pacific Northwest, serving Washington, Montana, Alaska, Idaho and Hawaii. We offer highly specialized, coordinated care for brain and spine tumors, delivered by a team of experts.
Many cancer specialists and other providers work together to provide seamless care for our patients. In addition to our Cherry Hill clinic, we see patients at our Edmonds and Issaquah locations.
If you are a medical professional with an urgent patient transfer, please call 866-470-4233.
Our cancer specialists are experts in treating the following tumors.
- Glioblastoma
- Astrocytoma
- Oligodendroglioma
- Medulloblastoma
- Vestibular schwannoma
- Pituitary adenoma
- Craniopharyngioma
- Pineal tumors
- Choroid plexus tumors
- Solitary fibrous tumors
- Lymphoma
- Chordoma
- Rare tumors
- Metastases
- Astrocytoma
- Ependymoma
- Meningioma
- Hemangioblastoma
- Solitary fibrous tumors
- Neurofibromas
- Schwannomas
- Chordoma
- Glioblastoma
- Rare tumors
- Metastases
- Neurofibromatosis Type 1 (NF1)
- Neurofibromatosis Type 2 (NF2)
- Schwannomatosis
- Von Hippel-Landau (VHL)
- Gorlin syndrome
- Tuberous sclerosis (TSC)
- Li-Fraumeni syndrome (Tp53)
- Mismatch repair (MMR)
- Lynch syndrome
We offer traditional and highly advanced care focused specifically on your condition.
Surgery is the first step in the treatment journey. In most cases, surgery is necessary to establish a diagnosis. Our surgeons use advanced techniques, including fluorescent dye to label tumors and minimally invasive techniques like laser interstitial thermal therapy (LITT). They also specialize in intraoperative testing, including EEG, motor mapping and language mapping.
We strive to offer personalized options when possible, using a combination of next-generation sequencing and personalized tumor testing. We use both commercially available testing and unique testing developed at Swedish to test your tumor tissue against many possible treatments so we can determine what it is most responsive to.
Focused radiation is used to damage the genetic material of the tumor and prevent it from growing. We use all standard radiation treatments and also offer the most advanced methods, including Gamma Knife and CyberKnife.
We also offer tumor treating fields, which is a device worn on the head that has been shown in phase 3 clinical trials to offer significant additional tumor control.
We have doctors who are trained in both neurology and oncology and specialize in treating tumors of the brain and spine. They use traditional chemotherapies, targeted therapies and immunotherapy. Traditional chemotherapies target the tumor’s genetic material to prevent growth. Targeted therapies are drugs that act in response to a specific signal in the cell and in some cases can prevent the growth of a tumor. Immunotherapy refers to treatments that promote an autoimmune attack of your own immune system against the tumor.
Your neuro-oncologist can also manage your other neurologic conditions, such as seizures and headaches, to decrease the need for multiple doctor visits.
We believe more information is better for patients, and we encourage all patients with a brain tumor to seek specialized care at a dedicated brain tumor center. Sometimes a second opinion can help to reassure you that you are getting the right care, and other times we may offer a different opinion.
Our neurosurgeons are highly skilled and have been able to remove tumors from about 85% of patients who come to us. Many of these patients had tumors that were designated as “inoperable” by other facilities. We pride ourselves on taking the time to explain your diagnosis and treatment plan and we welcome your questions. If you have a question about a diagnosis or treatment you have been given or offered, we are happy to meet with you. We offer virtual or in-person visits and can usually see patients within 1-2 business days.
Call us at 206-320-2300 or message us. We respond within 1-2 business days.
If you are a medical professional with an urgent patient transfer, please call 866-470-4233.
We pride ourselves on offering patients access to clinical trials and experimental therapies. We strive to ensure that we are offering carefully selected trials that have strong evidence to support them. However, we also counsel patients that all clinical trials are experiments, with no guarantee of benefit.
All proven treatments are already incorporated into standard care. Phase 1 trials test the safety and establish a safe dose for new drugs. Phase 2 trials confirm safety and give an initial hint about whether the drug is effective. Phase 3 trials are designed to definitively prove that a drug is effective and will change standard care. Our current clinical trials include:
Newly diagnosed glioblastoma
- HTS: A study of personalized treatment based on patient-specific high-throughput drug screening. Study Record | ClinicalTrials.gov
- Keynote D58 / EF-41: Tumor Treating Fields Together with KEYTRUDA® (pembrolizumab) in Newly Diagnosed Glioblastoma
Recurrent glioblastoma
- VBI1901: Study to evaluate safety, tolerability and optimal does of candidate GBM vaccine VBI-1901 in recurrent GBM subjects
- PARPA: PhI/II study of NMS 03305293+TMZ in adult patients with recurrent glioblastoma
Meningioma
Have questions? Send us a message. We respond within 1-2 business days.
Our Subspecialty Clinics
The Ivy Center has a full range of expertise in the following subspecialties.
We are pleased to report that we have been designated a Multidisciplinary Team of Distinction by the North American Skull Base Society. Our award-winning brain surgeons offer the most advanced minimally invasive techniques for brain and spine surgery, including keyhole approach, endoscopic surgery and laser interstitial thermal therapy (LITT).
Our Brain and Spine Metastases Clinic offers an integrated multidisciplinary approach, combining care from neurosurgeons, radiation oncologists, neuro-oncologists and medical oncologists. We offer advanced and minimally invasive surgical techniques, including LITT, as well as the most advanced platforms for radiation, including CyberKnife and GammaKnife.
Our Neurofibromatosis Clinic offers specialized treatment for neurofibromatosis (NF) types 1 and 2, as well as schwannomatosis. We understand the unique needs of the NF patient and strive to offer streamlined specialty care. We seek to meet the many diverse needs of the community, including genetic testing, pain management, access to our complex-spine-surgery team, plastic surgery and ongoing care with neuro-oncology.
Patient and Caregiver Support Groups
For more information, contact the Ben and Catherine Ivy Center Social Work team at 206-320-8288 or see what classes we currently have available.
Contact Us
Frequently Asked Questions
When you come to your first appointment at the Ivy Center, you’ll meet with your brain tumor specialist who will review your imaging and test results with you. We will talk with you about the next steps in your treatment process, including our personalized treatment recommendations.
You should bring these items to your first appointment:
- Medical history form
- Picture ID and insurance card
We’ll also talk to you about resources in the community, such as support groups, that can help you with this difficult diagnosis.
You might already have a brain tumor diagnosis before coming to our center. However, additional tests can tell us more about how the brain tumor is affecting you, what type of tumor it is and what treatments might be best for you. To learn about your tumor, we will use tests such as:
- A neurological exam that tests your reflex, coordination and more
- An MRI or CT scan of your brain
- Minimally invasive needle biopsy
- Surgical brain biopsy
During a biopsy, we’ll remove a small amount of tissue from your brain. We will take the tissue to our on-site laboratory where a neuropathologist will be able to tell if your tumor is cancerous or benign.
At The Ben & Catherine Ivy Center for Advanced Brain Tumor Treatment, we provide the best treatment options that current medical technology has to offer. Your neuro-oncologists will tailor a treatment plan specifically for you using the latest treatments available, including:
- Computer and image-guided brain surgery
- Gamma Knife and CyberKnife radiosurgeries
- Chemotherapy
- Biologic therapy
- Promising clinical trials
Neurosurgeons at The Ben & Catherine Ivy Center for Advanced Brain Tumor Treatment are highly skilled. In fact, we have been able to remove tumors from about 85% of the patients who come to us – many of whom have been designated as "inoperable" by other facilities.
Recognition
U.S. News & World Report - High Performing Hospital in Spinal Fusion (2024-25)