AIM To investigate the role of delta-like ligand 4 (DLL4) in the angiogenesis of high-grade malignant glioma. MATERIALS AND METHODS DLL4 expression and microvessel density (MVD) were detected by immunohistochemistry in 51 human high-grade malignant glioma tissue samples. The vessel maturation index (VMI) was calculated as the percentage of a-smooth muscle actin (a-SMA)-positive vessels in rel...

Immunotherapy emerged as a promising therapeutic approach to highly incurable malignant gliomas due to tumor-specific cytotoxicity, minimal side effect, and a durable antitumor effect by memory T cells. But, antitumor activities of endogenously activated T cells induced by immunotherapy such as vaccination are not sufficient to control tumors because tumor-specific antigens may be self-antigens...

The insulin-like growth factor (IGF) system includes IGF-I and IGF-II, the type I and type II IGF receptors, and specific IGF binding proteins (IGFBP-1 to IGFBP-6). These factors regulate both normal and malignant brain growth. Enhanced expression of IGF-I and IGF-II mRNA transcripts has been demonstrated in gliomas, meniningiomas, and other tumours. Abnormal imprinting of IGF-II occurs in glio...

BACKGROUND Convection-enhanced delivery of chemotherapeutics for the treatment of malignant glioma is a technique that delivers drugs directly into a tumor and the surrounding interstitium through continuous, low-grade positive-pressure infusion. This allows high local concentrations of drug while overcoming the limitations imposed by toxicity and the blood-brain barrier in systemic therapies t...

Recent studies have indicated that the loss of p16 is a frequent event in the progression of malignant gliomas. The loss of p16 promotes the acquisition of malignant characteristics in gliomas, which are among the most angiogenic of all human tumors. High-grade gliomas are distinguished from low-grade gliomas by intense angiogenesis in addition to their frequent loss of p16. New therapeutic str...

Malignant glioma, the most common malignant brain tumor in adults, is difficult to treat due to its aggressive invasive nature. Enzyme/prodrug suicide gene therapy based on the herpes simplex virus thymidine kinase (HSVtk)/ganciclovir (GCV) system is an efficient strategy for treating malignant gliomas. In the present study, we evaluated treatment with multilineage-differentiating stress-enduri...

INTRODUCTION Malignant gliomas remain associated with a poor prognosis despite both surgical treatment and radiochemotherapy.Previous studies have shown that complete resection of contrast-enhancing tumours is achieved in less than 20-30% of patients. 5-aminolevulinic acid (5-ALA) is a pro-drug that leads to accumulation of fluorescent protoporphyrins in malignant gliomas. The fluorescence can ...

Using the methods of restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) and single strand conformation polymorphism (SSCP) analyses, we have examined 33 cases of human gliomas with various malignant grades to detect the deletions of putative tumor suppressor gene loci, chromosome 10, 13q(retinoblastoma gene, Rb), 17p, and p53 mutation. We observed loss of heterozygosity (LOH) at loci on chromosome...