Journal of neurosurgery
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Journal of neurosurgery · Apr 2013
Review Meta AnalysisImpact of particular antiepileptic drugs on the survival of patients with glioblastoma multiforme.
Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is the most common astrocytic brain tumor and carries a dire prognosis. Despite current therapeutic options--surgery, radiotherapy, and chemotherapy--survival varies from 11.3 to 14.6 months. A group of drugs known as histone deacetylase inhibitors (HDIs) has demonstrated a potentially beneficial role in cancer treatment, particularly in combination with other therapies. A drug that exhibits potential as an HDI is sodium valproate (VPA), which is frequently used to treat seizures in patients with cerebral neoplasms. The present study was undertaken to investigate the role of VPA as an antitumor agent in the management of patients with GBM. ⋯ Authors of this study demonstrated evidence supporting the theory that VPA may benefit patients with GBM in terms of survival.
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Journal of neurosurgery · Apr 2013
Review Case ReportsIntracranial phosphaturic mesenchymal tumors: report of 2 cases.
Hypophosphatemia with osteomalacia may be due to a neoplasm that produces fibroblast growth factor 23 (FGF-23), which inhibits phosphate reabsorption in the kidneys. Most of these tumors occur in bone or soft tissue and occasionally in the head, although intracranial occurrence is very rare. This report describes a tumor that caused hypophosphatemia and osteomalacia and was located entirely in the right anterior cranial fossa. ⋯ The authors also studied another PMTMCT initially diagnosed as a hemangiopericytoma that involved the left anterior cranial fossa and ethmoid sinus, and reviewed reports of 6 other intracranial tumors that induced osteomalacia, 3 entirely in the anterior cranial fossa, 2 involving the anterior cranial fossa and ethmoid sinus, and 1 in the cavernous sinus. In older children or adults who have hypophosphatemia with osteomalacia and no personal or family history of metabolic, renal, or malabsorptive disease, a neoplasm should be suspected and an imaging workup that includes the brain is warranted, with particular attention to the anterior cranial fossa. Additionally, because there are some overlapping histological features between PMTMCTs and hemangiopericytomas, it may be helpful to assess tumoral FGF-23 expression by reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction or immunohistochemical analysis in patients with oncogenic osteomalacia from an intracranial tumor diagnosed as, or resembling, hemangiopericytoma.
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Journal of neurosurgery · Apr 2013
Review Case ReportsPosterior fossa calcifying pseudoneoplasm of the central nervous system.
Calcifying pseudoneoplasms of the neuraxis are rare, poorly understood masses that may arise throughout the CNS. Although these lesions are generally considered benign and noninfiltrative, reports exist that document growth of these masses on serial plain radiographs. The authors report a case of a posterior fossa calcifying pseudoneoplasm of the neuraxis demonstrating interval development of peritumoral edema on serial MRI. Their findings suggest that these lesions may sometimes behave in a more aggressive manner than commonly thought.