Mechanisms And Therapy For Cancer Metastasis To The Central Nervous System

Here is a thorough survey of the biology and treatment of CNS metastasis, including natural history, risk factors, molecular biology, the blood-brain barrier, imaging, quality of life, surgery, chemotherapy, radiation and the future of targeted therapies.

This is a multi-specialty book on the diagnosis, evaluation, and treatment of CNS metastases of the brain and spine. Written by renowned experts in their fields, the book covers essential contemporary topics in CNS metastases care. The book is divided into seven parts that begin with chapters that cover the fundamental biology of disease so that subsequent chapters on imaging, diagnosis, treatment, and palliation can be properly contextualized. This text also provides a framework for understanding the biology of radiation therapy so that radiation treatment options of the brain and spine can be more fully understood. New medications and technologies are reviewed from the perspective of maximizing efficacy and minimizing toxicity, independently and as combinatorial therapy. Central Nervous System Metastases: Diagnosis and Treatment serves as a practical reference for health care providers and trainees. It provides the comprehensive, detailed perspective required to provide holistic care to patients with metastatic disease to the brain and spine.

This book provides a comprehensive overview of brain metastases, from the molecular biology aspects to therapeutic management and perspectives. Due to the increasing incidence of these tumors and the urgent need to effectively control brain metastatic diseases in these patients, new therapeutic strategies have emerged in recent years. The volume discusses all these innovative approaches combined with new surgical techniques (fluorescence, functional mapping, integrated navigation), novel radiation therapy techniques (stereotactic radiosurgery) and new systemic treatment approaches such as targeted- and immunotherapy. These combination strategies represent a new therapeutic model in brain metastatic patients in which each medical practitioner (neurosurgeon, neurologist, medical oncologist, radiation oncologist) plays a pivotal role in defining the optimal treatment in a multidisciplinary approach. Written by recognized experts in the field, this book is a valuable tool for neurosurgeons, neuro-oncologists, neuroradiologists, medical oncologists, radiation oncologists, cognitive therapists, basic scientists and students working in the area of brain tumors.

As in the case of its eleven predecessors in the series Tumors of the Central Nervous System, this volume is distinguished for its thorough approach, its roster of 92 distinguished contributors representing 11 different countries and its detailed examination of leading-edge technology and methods. Volume 12: Molecular Mechanisms, Children’s Cancer, Treatments, and Radiosurgery offers a comprehensive review of the diagnosis, therapy and prognosis of brain and spinal cord tumors. Coverage extends to a large number of tumor types, including neuroblastoma, medulloblastoma, meningioma and chordoma. Molecular profiling of brain tumors to select appropriate therapy in clinical trials of brain tumors is discussed in detail, as is the classification/diagnosis of brain tumors based on function analysis. CDK6 as the molecular regulator of neuronal differentiation in the adult brain, and the role of aquaporins in human brain tumor growth are explained. Discussion also includes tumors affecting children, including neuroblastoma and medulloblastoma. A full chapter is devoted to the role of molecular genetic alterations in medulloblastoma, and another examines survival differences between children and adults with medulloblastoma. The use of various types of imaging methods to diagnose brain tumors is explained. In-depth discussion of treatment options includes stereotactic radiosurgery, endoscopic neurosurgery, electrochemotherapy, transsphenoidal surgery, focal ablation, whole brain radiation therapy and recraniotomy.

This issue of Neurosurgery Clinics, guest edited by Drs. Edjah Nduom and Jeff Olson, will focus on Metastases to the Central Nervous System. This issue is one of four selected each year by our series consulting editors, Dr. Russell R. Lonser and Dr. Daniel K. Resnick. Topics discussed in this issue will include: Epidemiology of metastatic CNS disease, Initial approach to the patient with a newly diagnosed solitary brain metastasis, Initial approach to the patient with multiple newly diagnosed brain metastases, When to consider a stereotactic biopsy for brain metastases, Techniques for open surgical resection of cerebral metastases, Laser ablation for cerebral metastases, Histopathological features and laboratory markers of common brain metastases, Recurrence vs radiation necrosis – evaluation and treatment, Anti-epileptic drugs for the management of cerebral metastases, Chemotherapy for the management of cerebral metastases, Approach to the management of metastatic leptomeningeal disease, Immune therapy for CNS metastases, Novel therapeutic targets for the treatment of cerebral metastases, Skull base metastases – diagnosis and management, and more.

Metastatic Disease of the Nervous System, Volume 149, begins with an overview of the impact and range of direct neoplastic involvement of the central and peripheral nervous system, comprehensively reviewing all aspects of brain metastases, from clinical, radiological and neuropathological manifestations, to the roles of surgery, radiation, systemic and palliative therapy in their management, and the complications of these interventions. The clinical manifestations, diagnosis and treatment of leptomeningeal, dural, spinal epidural and plexus metastases are also covered in detail. Covers all aspects of brain metastases, from clinical, radiological and neuropathological manifestations, to the roles of surgery, radiation, systemic and palliative therapy Presents a multidisciplinary review of the evidence regarding accuracy of diagnostic testing and evidence-based reviews of therapies Addresses metastatic diseases of the nervous system for residents, fellows and clinicians in neurology and oncology