BACKGROUND In previous years, immunotoxins have been shown to be a greatly promising therapeutic tool for brain malignancies, such as gliomas. Human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs) exhibit tropism to tumor tissue. However, the effect of bispecific immunotoxins in malignant gliomas is still unknown. The aim of this study was to investigate the function of bispecific immunotoxins in human malignan...

Malignant gliomas have a poor prognosis despite advances in diagnosis and therapy. Although postoperative temozolomide and radiotherapy improve overall survival in glioblastoma patients, most patients experience a recurrence. The prognosis of recurrent malignant gliomas is dismal, and more effective therapeutic strategies are clearly needed. Antiangiogenesis is currently considered an attractiv...

BACKGROUND Aggressive surgical resection of malignant gliomas is a controversial issue in neurosurgery. Studies with rigorous methodology that fully address this issue have only recently become available. METHODS The controversy regarding the role of maximal surgical resection of malignant gliomas is reviewed. The authors discuss surgical techniques and adjunctive technologies that can be uti...

Primary tumors of the brain account for 2 % of all cancers with malignant gliomas taking the lion's share with 70 %. Malignant gliomas (high grade gliomas WHO° III and °IV) belong to one of the most threatening tumor entities known with their disappointingly short median survival time of just 14 months despite maximum therapy according to current gold standards. Malignant gliomas secrete variou...

We have previously reported on the amplification and overexpression of the MDM2 proto-oncogene in a subset of malignant gliomas without TP53 mutation (G. Reifenberger et al, Cancer Res., 53: 2736-2739, 1993). Here, we show that the MDM4 (MDMX) gene located on 1q32 is a further target for amplification in malignant gliomas. MDM4 codes for a Mdm2-related protein that can bind to p53 and inhibits ...

The specialty of radiation therapy has increased in complexity over the years, yet as technology improves, the goal of improving outcomes while decreasing toxicity remains critical. Malignant gliomas remain among the most devastating of all malignancies, yet as conventional treatments (surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy) have become optimized overall survival has improved. The underlying mole...