Brain tumor research and treatment最新文献

Tumor-to-tumor metastasis (TTM) is defined as the hematogenous metastasis within a primary host tumor from a donor neoplasm. Since there is insufficient evidence regarding the pathophysiology, clinical course, and management of TTM, there are no precise guidelines for its management. A 73-year-old female patient diagnosed with breast cancer was found to have convexity meningioma. Since the size of tumor and peritumoral brain edema increased during follow-up period, the meningioma was treated with surgical resection. Postoperatively, histopathologic examination confirmed metastasis of invasive ductal carcinoma within a secretory meningioma. The final diagnosis was TTM of breast cancer in meningioma. Here, we report a rare case of intra-meningioma metastasis and a review of literature to provide a better understanding of this rare phenomenon.

Brain metastases (BMs) often occur in patients with lung cancer, breast cancer, and melanoma and are the leading cause of morbidity and mortality. The incidence of BM has increased with advanced neuroimaging and prolonged overall survival of cancer patients. With the advancement of local treatment modalities, including stereotactic radiosurgery and navigation-guided microsurgery, BM can be controlled long-term, even in cases with multiple lesions. However, radiation/chemotherapeutic agents are also toxic to the brain, usually irreversibly and cumulatively, and it remains difficult to completely cure BM. Thus, we must understand the molecular events that begin and sustain BM to develop effective targeted therapies and tools to prevent local and distant treatment failure. BM most often spreads hematogenously, and the blood-brain barrier (BBB) presents the first hurdle for disseminated tumor cells (DTCs) entering the brain parenchyma. Nevertheless, how the DTCs cross the BBB and settle on relatively infertile central nervous system tissue remains unknown. Even after successfully taking up residence in the brain, the unique tumor microenvironment is marked by restricted aerobic glycolysis metabolism and limited lymphocyte infiltration. Brain organotropism, certain phenotype of primary cancers that favors brain metastasis, may result from somatic mutation or epigenetic modulation. Recent studies revealed that exosome secretion from primary cancer or over-expression of proteolytic enzymes can "pre-condition" brain vasculoendothelial cells. The concept of the "metastatic niche," where resident DTCs remain dormant and protected from systemic chemotherapy and antigen exposure before proliferation, is supported by clinical observation of BM in patients clearing systemic cancer and experimental evidence of the interaction between cancer cells and tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes. This review examines extant research on the metastatic cascade of BM through the molecular events that create and sustain BM to reveal clues that can assist the development of effective targeted therapies that treat established BMs and prevent BM recurrence.

Brain metastasis (BM) is the most common type of brain tumor in adults. The contemporary management of BM remains challenging. Advancements in systemic cancer treatment have increased the survival of patients with cancer. Although the treatment of BM is still complicated, advances in radiotherapy, including stereotactic radiosurgery and chemotherapy, have improved treatment outcomes. Surgical resection is the traditional treatment for BM and its role in the surgical resection of BM has been well established. However, refinement of the surgical resection technique and strategy for BM is needed. Herein, we discuss the evolving role of surgery in patients with BM and the future of BM treatment.

A 41-year-old man suffered from progressive radiculomyelopathy caused by spinal epidural mass primarily encasing the spinal cord at the cervicothoracic vertebrae that extended into the thoracic cavity through the neural foramen. An urgent decompressive laminectomy and epidural tumor resection were performed to prevent neurological deterioration and effective spinal cord decompression. The histopathologic diagnosis was diffuse large B-cell lymphoma. As first-line treatment for stage II extranodal lymphoma, he received 6 cycles of R-CHOP (rituximab/cyclophosphamide, hydroxydaunorubicin, Oncovin, and prednisone) chemotherapy. Consequently, follow-up positron-emission tomography CT and MR images demonstrated a complete metabolic response (Deauville score 1). This rare occurrence of primarily extranodal spinal epidural lymphoma with limited disease will be presented in a literature review.

Oxygen is a vital component of living cells. Low levels of oxygen in body tissues, known as hypoxia, can affect multiple cellular functions across a variety of cell types and are a hallmark of brain tumors. In the tumor microenvironment, abnormal vasculature and enhanced oxygen consumption by tumor cells induce broad hypoxia that affects not only tumor cell characteristics but also the antitumor immune system. Although some immune reactions require hypoxia, hypoxia generally negatively affects immunity. Hypoxia induces tumor cell invasion, cellular adaptations to hypoxia, and tumor cell radioresistance. In addition, hypoxia limits the efficacy of immunotherapy and hinders antitumor responses. Therefore, understanding the role of hypoxia in the brain tumor, which usually does not respond to immunotherapy alone is important for the development of effective anti-tumor therapies. In this review, we discuss recent evidence supporting the role of hypoxia in the context of brain tumors.

During the last three decades, the management of medulloblastoma (MBL) has made enormous progress with a multidisciplinary approach, incorporating surgery, radiotherapy (RT), and chemotherapy. Despite this improvement, 20%-30% of patients with MBL remain at risk of disease recurrence, with its relapse being possibly fatal. To date, the salvage treatment for relapse remains challenging, and various approaches have been suggested for the retreatment. In this review, I have described the characteristics of patients with relapsed MBL, patterns of relapse and the most commonly prescribed treatment. Further, I have reviewed the studies on re-irradiation and its associated issues to conclusively suggest the RT recommendations for patients with relapsed MBL.

Medulloblastoma is the most common embryonal tumor of the central nervous system in childhood. Combined multimodality approaches, including surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy, have improved the outcome of medulloblastoma. Advances in genomic research have shown that medulloblastoma is not a biologically or clinically discrete entity. Previously, the risk was divided according to histology, presence of metastasis, degree of resection, and age at diagnosis. Through the development of integrated genomics, new biology-based risk stratification methods have recently been proposed. It is also important to understand the genetic predisposition of patients with medulloblastoma. Therefore, treatment goal aimed to improve the survival rate with minimal additional adverse effects and reduced long-term sequelae. It is necessary to incorporate genetic findings into the standard of care, and clinical trials that reflect this need to be conducted.

Background: Rathke's cleft cysts (RCCs) are benign tumors of the pituitary gland. Small, asymptomatic RCCs do not require surgical treatment, whereas surgical treatment is required for symptomatic RCCs.

Methods: We retrospectively reviewed medical records of patients with an RCC who were diagnosed and managed in our institution between April 2004 and April 2020 and generated two different cohorts: the observation (n=114) and the surgical group (n=99). Their initial MRI signal characteristics were analyzed. The natural course focusing on cyst size was observed in the observation group and postoperative visual and endocrine outcomes were evaluated in the surgical group.

Results: The characterization of MRI signals of cyst contents in both T1-weighted (T1W) and T2-weighted (T2W) images revealed nine combinations for our 213 patients. Among 115 patients with a high T2W signal, the cysts showed hypo-, iso-, and hyper-intensity on T1W images in 72, 39, and 44 patients, respectively; Type S-low, Type S-iso, and Type S-high. One more major group of 35 patients showed RCCs with hyperintensity on the T1W images and hypointensity on the T2W images named as Type M. In the comparison between observation and surgical groups, we identified only two major groups in which the number of patients in the surgical and observation groups was statistically different: more Type S-low in a surgical group (p<0.001) and more Type M in an observation group (p=0.007). In subgroup analysis, the range of change in the cyst size was the highest in Type S-high in the observation group (p=0.028), and intergroup differences in visual and endocrine outcomes were not evident in the surgical group.

Conclusion: MRI characteristics help to predict the natural course of RCCs. We identified subgroups of RCCs which are more or less likely to require surgical intervention.

To obtain achievements in addressing the clinical challenges of brain metastasis, we need a clear understanding of its biological mechanisms. Brain metastasis research is challenged by many practical scientific barriers. Depending on the purpose of the study, experimental brain metastasis models in vivo can be used. It is now possible to re-create the architecture and physiology of human organs. Human organoids provide unique opportunities for the study of human disease and complement animal models. The translation of experimental findings to clinical application has several barriers in the development of treatment for brain metastasis. A variety of models have provided significant contributions to the knowledge of brain metastasis pathology and remain pivotal tools for examining novel therapeutic strategies.

Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is the most aggressive brain tumor, characterized by fatal prognosis and high rates of recurrence. Although there are various treatment strategies such as surgical resection, radiotherapy, and chemotherapy, these traditional approaches still have not improved the survival rates and prolongation. Therefore, there is a pressing requirement for developing novel technologies to combat GBM. Nanoparticle-based GBM therapy can be considered a promising approach to precisely treat tumors with minimal side effects. Among various nanoparticles, gold nanoparticle (AuNP) has been demonstrated to be effective in treating GBM because of its advantages such as easy functionalization due to self-assembled monolayers of thiols, surface plasmon resonance effect on its surface, and relatively low toxicity issues. By using nanoscale (5-100 nm) and facile functionalization with a targeting ligand, AuNP can overcome the obstacles caused by blood-brain barrier, which selectively inhibits AuNP penetration into the brain tumor mass. AuNPs delivered into brain tissue and targeted with GBM have been mostly explored for photothermal therapy and photodynamic therapy, but also investigated in the development of complex therapies including radiotherapy, chemotherapy, and immunotherapy using AuNP-based nanoplatforms. Therefore, the aim of this mini review is to summarize recent works on the AuNPs-based nanoplatforms for treating GBM with a multimodal approach.