Current treatment options in oncology
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Low-grade gliomas (LGG) are uncommon central nervous system (CNS) tumors which often present with seizures and few other neurologic signs or symptoms. Multimodality therapy encompassing surgical resection, radiation therapy (RT), and chemotherapy may provide the best disease-free and overall survival (OS). Each of these treatment modalities plays an important role in the treatment of these tumors. ⋯ The studies seek to evaluate the efficacy of radiotherapy and either temozolomide or a combination of procarbazine, vincristine, and lomustine in high-risk LGG patients. Ongoing investigative efforts seek to confirm the predictive value of a number of molecular markers including the loss of chromosomes 1p and 19q and the epigenetic silencing of the methylguanine-DNA methyltransferase (MGMT) gene. Additional smaller clinical trials seek to establish the role of newer targeted therapies including small-molecule tyrosine kinase inhibitors in patients with newly diagnosed and recurrent LGG.