Neuro-oncology in the Philippines

By Julette Batara

The management of brain tumor patients in the Philippines first became formalized by the establishment of the Comprehensive Brain Tumor Center in St Luke’s Medical Center (2002) by the head of neurosurgery, Dr. Manuel Mariano. It was a multidisciplinary center wherein neurosurgeons, neurologists, radiation oncologists and medical oncologists, psychiatrists and physiatrists would see patients and discuss the best possible management. Dr. Julette Batara returned to the Philippines as the first formally trained neuro-oncologist and manned the Brain Tumor Center.  Soon thereafter, the Philippine Society for Neuro-oncology was established with Dr. Manuel Mariano as founding President.

The society was established to improve awareness and management of brain tumor patients in the country. PSNO held local as well as international conferences biannually and hosted the ASNO in 2015. During the pandemic, 2 lay fora for patients and caregivers of brain tumor patients were given online by the Department of Neurosciences of the Philippine General Hospital also in cooperation with PSNO. During these lay fora we shared this book authored by one of the children of our patients as a guide for brain tumor patients and we would like to share this link here as well.

To bridge the need for more neuro-oncologists in the country, St Luke’s Medical Center started a fellowship program for neuro-oncology supported by PSNO and Dr. Paul Opinaldo, a neurologist was the first graduate of this 2 year program in April of 2019. Knowing from a survey of our current neurology residents, that as many as 10 residents from various programs were interested to pursue neuro-oncology as a subspecialty, the Department of Neurosciences of the Philippine General Hospital also started a neuro-oncology fellowship under the University of the Philippines, Philippine General Hospital and our first fellow Dr. Marky Mondia started in June of 2022. A neurosurgical neuro-oncology and skull based neurosurgery fellowship program is also currently under application in the University of the Philippines and it is hoped that it will be approved in time to start in July of 2023. Adding to our roster of neuro-oncologists in the country are 2 neurologists who finished their training in Toronto and Alberta Canada, Dr. Rose Or and Dr. Rhaine Bernardino.

For our social arm, institutions which help our patients with treatment costs, Let’s Save the Brain Foundation and Government institutions like the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes and the Department of Social Welfare have been a big help as most of our patients do not have insurance nor the means to cover the expensive treatment.