May 23, 2012 — A pair of studies released this week confirm an association between obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) and hypertension, and hint that adherent continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) therapy may reduce the risk for new-onset hypertension. Vishesh K. Kapur, MD, MPH, and Edward M. Weaver, MD, MPH, both from the University of Washington…
May 18, 2012 — An ambitious National Alzheimer’s Plan announced this week by the Department of Health and Human Services to address the growing threat of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) in the United States includes funding for the first prevention trial in people genetically predisposed to develop early symptoms. The double-blind, placebo-controlled study will test the…
May 23, 2012 — Deep brain stimulation (DBS), a therapy already approved for use in Parkinson’s disease, may also be useful for treating some patients with early signs of Alzheimer’s disease (AD), a pilot study suggests. After 1 year of continuous DBS, a clinically meaningful increase in cerebral metabolism in the hippocampal area was observed…
May 25, 2012 – There is a large body of evidence for an association between hyposmia and Alzheimer’s dementia (AD), but the predictive value of olfactory dysfunction in the development of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is uncertain, a new review of the topic concludes. “We establish through a systematic review the lack of proven evidence that…
a report by Michael Weller Chairman, Department of Neurology, University Hospital Zurich Anaplastic astrocytomas, oligoastrocytomas and oligodendrogliomas (World Health Organization (WHO) grade III) and glioblastomas (WHO grade IV) are collectively referred to as malignant gliomas, whereas WHO grade I and II gliomas are designated low-grade gliomas.1 For decades, neurosurgical resection – whenever possible – and…
a report by Christopher E Pelloski, MD1 and Mark R Gilbert, MD2 1. Assistant Professor, Departments of Radiation Oncology and Pathology; 2. Professor and Deputy Chair, Department of Neuro-oncology, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center The purpose of this article is to review the current treatment options for patients with glioblastoma (GBM). The current…
a report by Henry S Friedman, MD James B Powell Jr Professor of Neuro-oncology, Dukes University Medical Center The treatment of patients with glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is conventionally considered to be a palliative venture with no hope of cure. Traditionally, patients are treated with maximal surgical resection based on the premise that, although surgery is…
a report by David Roberge, MD Assistant Professor, Radiation Oncology, McGill University It was decades after the introduction of the first concept of stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) at the Karolinska Institute1 that stereotactic irradiation began to see widespread use in the treatment of brain tumors. Despite many technical changes since the 1950s, radiosurgery remains a radiotherapy…
Antonio Marcilio Padula Omuro is an Attending Physician at the Hôpital Pitié-Salpétrière in Paris. He has published several papers on brain tumours and is a member of the European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) Brain Tumor Group. Dr Omuro trained in neurology at the University of São Paulo, Brazil, and in clinical…
The most common cancer arising from the brain is the glioblastoma multiforme (GBM). It is also the most deadly,1 representing the most aggressive subtype among the gliomas, a collection of tumors including astrocytomas and oligodendrogliomas. In 1926, Bailey and Cushing, in describing ‘spongioblastoma multiforme’, the label then used for GBM, noted that: “It is from…
A report by Renato V La Rocca, MD, Oncologist and Director, Kentuckiana Cancer Institute, Kentucky The last five years have seen an evolution in the management of high-grade astrocytic tumors comparable in scope yet greater in magnitude to that of the prior 40 years. This is thanks to the convergence of three factors: the introduction…