OBJECTIVE To evaluate the role of stereotactic cyst aspiration in the context of multimodality management of cystic glial and metastatic tumors, we retrospectively reviewed our experience with 38 patients during a 10-year interval. METHODS All 38 patients had one or more computed tomography or magnetic resonance imaging guided stereotactic cyst aspirations. Twenty-seven patients had glial neo...

WT1 gene has oncogenic properties and its continuous over-expression is related to leukemia and several kinds of solid malignancies. Growth of WT1-expressing leukemia and solid tumor cells could be inhibited by the treatment with WT1 antisense oligomers. Various studies revealed WT1 expression in a considerable proportion of glial tumors and related it to high grade tumors and proliferative act...

Glial tumors have been heavily studied and sequenced, leading to scores of findings about altered genes. This explosion in knowledge has not been matched with clinical success, but efforts to understand the synergies between drivers of glial tumors may alleviate the situation. We present a novel molecular classification system that captures the combinatorial nature of relationships between alte...

A permanent cell line arising from a cerebellar medulloblastoma was established and its growth characteristics were investigated. Although the original tumor inoculum failed to take, the cultured cells were readily tumorigenic in nude mice and gave rise to rapidly growing tumors which could be easily subpassaged. The primary tumor showed evidence of both glial and neuronal differentiation, and ...

Basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) is overexpressed in most high-grade human gliomas, implying that it is involved in the pathogenesis of these tumors. To assess the biological effect of inappropriate production of bFGF in normal astrocytes, we developed a system for glia-specific gene transfer in transgenic mice. A transgene encoding the receptor for subgroup A avian leukosis virus and cont...

This chapter will review the current knowledge about the molecular genetic alterations associated with the initiation and progression of the most common forms of primary nervous system tumors. These include glial tumors, primitive neuroectodermal tumors (PNETs), meningiomas, and schwannomas. We will briefly review recent epidemiological data and the present histopathological classification of p...

The human TAX-1 gene encodes a Mr 135,000 glycoprotein that is transiently expressed on the surface of a subset of neurons during development and is involved in neurite outgrowth. The TAX-1 gene has been mapped to a region on chromosome 1 that has been implicated in microcephaly and the Van der Woude syndrome. Using restriction landmark genome scanning to search for amplified genes in gliomas, ...