PURPOSE To characterize the expression of sphingosine kinase-1 (SPHK1) in human astrocytomas and to investigate the association between SPHK1 expression and progression of astrocytomas. EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN The expression of SPHK1 in normal human astrocytes, astrocytoma cell lines, and four pairs of matched astrocytoma tissues and their adjacent normal brain tissues were detected by quantitati...

A pilomyxoid astrocytoma is a recently described tumor that occurs predominantly in the hypothalamic-chiasmatic region and is rarely found elsewhere. It has similar features as pilocytic astrocytomas, but has distinct histological characteristics and a poorer prognosis. A pilomyxoid astrocytoma is an aggressive tumor, and increased awareness is necessary with a suspect case. We present the firs...

In humans, the targeting protein for Xenopus kinesin-like protein 2 (TPX2) is a cell cycle-associated protein, and altered TPX2 expression has been found in various malignancies. However, the contribution of TPX2 expression to astrocytoma progression is unclear. The aim of this study was to investigate TPX2 expression in human astrocytoma samples and cell lines. TPX2 protein expression was dete...

Because of its unpredictable clinical course, treatment strategies for low-grade (grade II) astrocytoma vary from "wait and see" to gross tumour resection followed by immediate radiotherapy. Clinical studies on grade II astrocytoma show that 5-year-survival ranges from 27% to 85% of patients with very few consistent prognostic variables besides the patient's age and the presence of neurological...

The synthesis of human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) envelope glycoproteins and the production of infectious HCMV in human astrocytoma and skin fibroblast (SF) cells were analysed. HCMV envelope glycoproteins synthesized in astrocytoma cells had lower Mrs than the same glycoproteins synthesized in SF cells regardless of the strain of HCMV used, showing that the differences observed were due to differe...

BACKGROUND Human serum paraoxonase 1 (PON1) plays a major role in the metabolism of several organophosphorus compounds. The enzyme is encoded by the polymorphic gene PON1, located on chromosome 7q21.3. Aiming to identify genetic variations related to the risk of developing brain tumors, we investigated the putative association between common nonsynonymous PON1 polymorphisms and the risk of deve...

Normal brain development during childhood is a complex and dynamic process for which detailed scientific information is lacking. MRI techniques, combined with methods for advanced image analysis, offer the potential to begin to construct a quantitative map of normal paediatric brain development in vivo. In this study we utilize volumetric analysis of high resolution brain images obtained from M...

Optic nerve pilocytic astrocytoma is an uncommon but well-known entity; however, intraorbital ancient pilocytic astrocytoma of the optic nerve is extremely rarely reported. To our knowledge, this is the first detailed description regarding the intraorbital ancient pilocytic astrocytoma, reported in available English literature, to date. We presented an extremely unusual neurofibromatosis type 1...

BACKGROUND Intracranial meningioma and glioma collision tumors are relatively uncommon and are even more rarely located within the ventricles. CASE PRESENTATION Here, we report a case of a patient with an intraventricular meningioma and astrocytoma collision tumor. A 39-year-old man previously underwent excision of an astrocytoma in the triangle area of the lateral ventricle and exhibited goo...

Pilocytic astrocytoma is a low grade glioma that affects mostly children and young adults and can occur anywhere in the central nervous system. Pilocytic astrocytoma of the optic nerve is an equally indolent subtype that is often associated with Neurofibromatosis Type I (NFI). A 40-year-old male presented with left sided axial proptosis and exposure keratopathy. MRI revealed a mass in left prox...