A large number of oncogenes have been identified as aberrant in gliomas, but only the erbB oncogene (gene encoding the epidermal growth factor receptor [EGFR]) is amplified in an appreciable number. The loss or mutation of tumor-suppressor genes located on different autosomes may be associated with progression of malignant gliomas. The p53 tumor-suppressor gene (located on chromosome 17) is fre...

Glial neoplasms represent 0.5-1% of all cancers in most Western countries. Malignant gliomas are among the most devastating cancers, leading to death in most cases. They present unique challenges due to their location, aggressive biological behavior and diffuse infiltrative growth. Notwithstanding the development of new surgical and radiation techniques in the last thirty years, a cure for mali...

BACKGROUND Despite advances in surgery, radiation therapy, and chemotherapy, only modest improvement has been achieved in the survival of patients with malignant gliomas. METHODS The authors review the immunologic aspects of gliomas, potential targets for therapy, and issues surrounding current immunotherapeutic strategies directed against malignant gliomas. RESULTS The blood-brain barrier ...

BACKGROUND Low-grade gliomas have been documented to undergo transformation into high-grade astrocytomas, and the time interval of this transformation has been reported to generally occur within 5 years in about 50% of patients harboring these low-grade lesions. Several studies have investigated the evolution of low-grade gliomas into malignant gliomas by CT and MRI characteristics, but many ha...

Pseudoprogression has been recognized and widely accepted in the treatment of malignant gliomas, as transient increases in the volume of the enhanced area just after chemoradiotherapy, especially using temozolomide. We experienced a similar phenomenon in the treatment of malignant gliomas and meningiomas using boron neutron capture therapy (BNCT), a cell-selective form of particle radiation. He...

Malignant gliomas are characterized by an intrinsic resistance to apoptosis. Increasing evidence suggests that this is a fundamental mechanism by which gliomas evade elimination when treated with both conventional and targeted therapies. In this review, we describe the multiple anti-apoptotic signals that have been demonstrated to be active in malignant gliomas. We describe the preclinical evid...

Gliomas account for almost 80% of primary malignant brain tumors in adults. Magnetic Resonance imaging (MRI) is still the gold standard for diagnosis of brain tumors and brain 99mTc-tetrofosmin Single Photon Emission Computed Tomography (99mTc-tetrofosmin-SPECT) has been established as a useful tool for their evaluation. Fluorine-18–2-fluoro-2-deoxy-d-glucose positron emi...

BACKGROUND Malignant gliomas are the most common form of primary malignant brain tumor. It has recently been suggested that genetic changes are involved in the progression of malignant gliomas. In previous studies, a novel gene, p42.3, was characterized as a tumor-specific gene that encodes a mitosis phase-dependent expression protein which is expressed in gastric cancer, but not in matched nor...

The present retrospective study was designed to analyze factors with prognostic values a) within, and b) significantly associated with, short-term (12months or less) and long-term (more than 24 months) survival times, i n 72 consecutive patients treated for malignant gliomas. Among 41 (57%) short-term surviving patients, the absence of both aphasia and motor deficit (as initial presenting ...

Malignant gliomas are the most common intracranial tumors and are considered incurable. Therefore, exploration of novel therapeutic modalities is essential. Telomerase is a ribonucleoprotein enzyme that is detected in the vast majority of malignant gliomas but not in normal brain tissues. We, therefore, hypothesized that telomerase inhibition could be a very promising approach for the targeted ...