Search results for "brain tumor"
showing 10 items of 90 documents
Intra-operatively obtained human tissue: Protocols and techniques for the study of neural stem cells
2009
The discoveries of neural (NSCs) and brain tumor stem cells (BTSCs) in the adult human brain and in brain tumors, respectively, have led to a new era in neuroscience research. These cells represent novel approaches to studying normal phenomena such as memory and learning, as well as pathological conditions such as Parkinson's disease, stroke, and brain tumors. This new paradigm stresses the importance of understanding how these cells behave in vitro and in vivo. It also stresses the need to use human-derived tissue to study human disease because animal models may not necessarily accurately replicate the processes that occur in humans. An important, but often underused, source of human tissu…
Impaired cognitive control in patients with brain tumors
2021
Though the assessment of cognitive functions is proven to be a reliable prognostic indicator in patients with brain tumors, some of these functions, such as cognitive control, are still rarely investigated. The objective of this study was to examine proactive and reactive control functions in patients with focal brain tumors and to identify lesioned brain areas more at "risk" for developing impairment of these functions. To this end, a group of twenty-two patients, candidate to surgery, were tested with an AX-CPT task and a Stroop task, along with a clinical neuropsychological assessment, and their performance was compared to that of a well-matched healthy control group. Although overall ac…
Brain Tumor-Derived Extracellular Vesicles as Carriers of Disease Markers: Molecular Chaperones and MicroRNAs
2020
Primary and metastatic brain tumors are usually serious conditions with poor prognosis, which reveal the urgent need of developing rapid diagnostic tools and efficacious treatments. To achieve these objectives, progress must be made in the understanding of brain tumor biology, for example, how they resist natural defenses and therapeutic intervention. One resistance mechanism involves extracellular vesicles that are released by tumors to meet target cells nearby or distant via circulation and reprogram them by introducing their cargo. This consists of different molecules among which are microRNAs (miRNAs) and molecular chaperones, the focus of this article. miRNAs modify target cells in the…
Brain Mapping-Aided SupraTotal Resection (SpTR) of Brain Tumors: The Role of Brain Connectivity
2021
Brain gliomas require a deep knowledge of their effects on brain connectivity. Understanding the complex relationship between tumor and functional brain is the preliminary and fundamental step for the subsequent surgery. The extent of resection (EOR) is an independent variable of surgical effectiveness and it correlates with the overall survival. Until now, great efforts have been made to achieve gross total resection (GTR) as the standard of care of brain tumor patients. However, high and low-grade gliomas have an infiltrative behavior and peritumoral white matter is often infiltrated by tumoral cells. According to these evidences, many efforts have been made to push the boundary of the re…
Presence of the Transmembrane Protein Neuropilin in Cytokine-induced Killer Cells
2020
Background/aim Cytokine-induced killer (CIK) cells are a heterogenous population of immune cells showing promising applications in immunotherapeutic cancer treatment. Neuropilin (NRP) proteins have been proven to play an important role in cancer development and prognosis. In this study, CIK cells were tested for expression of NRPs, transmembrane proteins playing a role in the proliferation and survival of cancer cells. Materials and methods CIK cells were analyzed at different time points via flow cytometry and quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction for neuropilin expression. Results Phenotyping results showed CIK cells having developed properly, and low levels of NRP2 were detect…
Global survival trends for brain tumors, by histology: analysis of individual records for 556,237 adults diagnosed in 59 countries during 2000–2014 (…
2022
Abstract Background Survival is a key metric of the effectiveness of a health system in managing cancer. We set out to provide a comprehensive examination of worldwide variation and trends in survival from brain tumors in adults, by histology. Methods We analyzed individual data for adults (15–99 years) diagnosed with a brain tumor (ICD-O-3 topography code C71) during 2000–2014, regardless of tumor behavior. Data underwent a 3-phase quality control as part of CONCORD-3. We estimated net survival for 11 histology groups, using the unbiased nonparametric Pohar Perme estimator. Results The study included 556,237 adults. In 2010–2014, the global range in age-standardized 5-year net survival for…
Transplantation of prodrug-converting neural progenitor cells for brain tumor therapy
2003
Since neural progenitor cells can engraft stably into brain tumors and differentiate along the neuronal and glial line, we tested the hypothesis that transplanted cytosine deaminase (CD)-expressing ST14A cells (an immortalized neural progenitor cell line) can convert locally 5-fluorocytosine (5-FC) into 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) and produce a regression of glioma tumors. ST14A, retrovirally transduced with the E. coli CD gene, showed a strong bystander effect on glioma cells as assessed by in vitro assay. Intracerebral injection of C6 glioma cells generated a rapidly growing tumoral mass. DiI prelabeled ST14A, coinjected into the rat brain with C6 glioma cells, survived in the tumoral mass up t…
Bmi1 and Cell of Origin Determinants of Brain Tumor Phenotype
2007
Glioblastomas frequently express oncogenic EGFR and loss of the Ink4a/Arf locus. Bmi1, a positive regulator of stem cell self renewal, may be critical to drive brain tumor growth. In this issue of Cancer Cell, Bruggeman and colleagues suggest that brain tumors with these molecular alterations can be initiated in both neural precursor and differentiated cell compartments in the absence of Bmi1; however, tumorigenicity is reduced, and tumors contain fewer precursor cells. Surprisingly, tumors appear less malignant when initiated in precursor cells. Bmi1-deficient tumors also had fewer neuronal lineage cells, suggesting a role for Bmi1 in determination of cell lineage and tumor phenotype.
Blood flow and metabolic microenvironment of brain tumors
1994
Summarizing thesein vivo data in the context of brain tumor therapy, the following aspects are of particular importance: Low and heterogeneous tumor blood flow may — in addition to the limiting effects of the blood-brain barrier — result in compromised delivery of drugs from blood to the tissue. Low tumor pO2 reduces sensitivity to standard radiation and ‘O2-dependent’ anticancer drugs. Treatment efficacy may be further altered by changes of tumor pH. Particularly acidosis can decrease radiation sensitivity and modulate the cytotoxicity of anticancer drugs. In the following presentations, these aspects will be discussed regardingin vivo data obtained with positron emission tomography.
Novel Approaches for Glioblastoma Treatment: Focus on Tumor Heterogeneity, Treatment Resistance, and Computational Tools
2019
BACKGROUND: Glioblastoma (GBM) is a highly aggressive primary brain tumor. Currently, the suggested line of action is the surgical resection followed by radiotherapy and treatment with the adjuvant temozolomide (TMZ), a DNA alkylating agent. However, the ability of tumor cells to deeply infiltrate the surrounding tissue makes complete resection quite impossible, and in consequence, the probability of tumor recurrence is high, and the prognosis is not positive. GBM is highly heterogeneous and adapts to treatment in most individuals. Nevertheless, these mechanisms of adaption are unknown. RECENT FINDINGS: In this review, we will discuss the recent discoveries in molecular and cellular heterog…