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Daniela Bota, M.D., Ph.D.
Medical Neuro-oncologist

It strikes in the prime of life, typically hitting people in their 40s and 50s. It can wreak havoc on finances and families, wiping out expectations and hopes for the future. It goes by a tongue-twister of a name – glioblastoma multiforme. It’s the most aggressive and dangerous of all brain tumors.

Daniela Bota, M.D., Ph.D. assistant neurology professor and medical co-director of the UC Irvine Comprehensive Brain Tumor Program, brings a unique perspective to fighting brain cancer as the only neuro-oncologist in Orange County, and one of only about 300 in the country.

 “It’s a new specialty that can make an impact on patients’ survival,” Dr. Bota says.

By combining the two disciplines of neurology and oncology, specialists like Dr.  Bota are uniquely positioned to evaluate and guide the comprehensive care of brain tumor patients. For instance, her expertise in neurology enables her to treat patients suffering from seizures or cognitive difficulties, while her background as neuro-oncologist allows her to develop the optimum combination of chemotherapy and radiation therapies, or even experimental therapies.

“It’s rewarding to work with people who might not have any hope at first, but then go on to enjoy things like a child’s graduation or the birth of grandchildren or other meaningful events they didn’t expect to see,” she says.

There are 18,000 cases of malignant brain tumors in the U.S. a year, and a mortality rate of 15,000 a year. It’s the fifth leading cause of cancer deaths in adults, and the second leading cause of cancer death in children and young adults. For those diagnosed with glioblastoma multiforme, life expectancy used to be about one year, but new treatments already show promise of extending patients’ lives much longer in selected cases.

“It’s very important to explain that there’s always hope,” Dr. Bota says.

“I never start my conversations with new patients about their chances of dying. I always start with their chances of living.”

To increase survival rates and extend lives, the brain tumor program provides comprehensive care by a team of specialists, including neurosurgeons, oncologists, radiation oncologists, neuroradiologists, nurses, and social workers.

“If you have everyone working together, you can improve patient outcomes,” she says.

In addition, the brain tumor program will move into a new brain tumor clinic opening this summer in the Chao Family Comprehensive Cancer Center. It’s one of only three fellowship-trained neuro-oncologist led comprehensive brain tumor programs in Southern California and the only one south of Los Angeles County.

In April, the program will begin offering a brain tumor support group for patients and caregivers. Brain tumors can take a mental toll on patients and their families.

“Brain tumors can take away a patient’s personality. A wife may say that she doesn’t recognize her own husband,” Dr. Bota says. “We need to help families through this stressful time.”

Dr. Bota received a doctorate in molecular biology from the University of Southern California and medical degree from Carol Davila University of Medicine and Pharmacy in her native Romania. She came to UC Irvine in November 2007 from Duke University Medical Center, where she was a neuro-oncology fellow and received a Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award for her work.

At UC Irvine, she has a research laboratory where she will test new “translational” drugs – those already approved for, say ovarian or other cancers – for use on patients with malignant brain tumors.

She also will work on several new clinical trials, including two to test vaccines that can harness the power of immune cells to combat brain tumors, and one that involves placing antibody in the tumor cavity after brain surgery.

“They’ve shown promising results in the earlier stage trials,” she says. “A lot of discoveries are being made in neurology and oncology involving brain tumors. We’re in an exciting time.”

Learn more about Dr. Bota »