Search Our Scientific Publications & Authors

J Neurooncol 2022 May 21. Epub 2022 May 21.

Department of Neurosurgery, Stanford University Medical Center, 453 Quarry Road, Stanford, CA, 94304, USA.

Background: Stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) to the surgical bed of resected brain metastases is now considered the standard of care due to its advantages over whole brain radiation therapy (WBRT). Despite the upward trend in SRS adoption since the 2000s, disparities have been reported suggesting that socio-economic factors can influence SRS utilization.

Objective: To analyze recent trends in SRS use and identify factors that influence treatment. Read More

Arch Gynecol Obstet 2022 May 21. Epub 2022 May 21.

Division of Gynecologic Oncology, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Southern California, 2020 Zonal Avenue, IRD 520, Los Angeles, CA, 90033, USA.

Purpose: Despite the heterogeneity of anatomical sites that metastases may affect, within the current cancer staging schematic, stage IVB encompasses all distant metastasis. This study examined survival outcomes based on the extent of distant organ metastasis in stage IVB cervical cancer.

Methods: This retrospective cohort study utilized the National Cancer Institute's Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Result Program from 2010 to 2018. Read More

Cancer Med 2022 May 21. Epub 2022 May 21.

Department of Gastroenterology, Beijing Friendship Hospital, Beijing Key Laboratory for Precancerous Lesion of Digestive Disease, National Clinical Research Center for Digestive Disease, Beijing Digestive Disease Center, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China.

Background: Esophageal neuroendocrine carcinoma (ENEC) is an extremely rare type of malignancy. Clinical data of ENEC are limited to case reports and case series. More information is needed on its clinical feature, management, and prognosis. Read More

Thorac Cancer 2022 May 20. Epub 2022 May 20.

The Second School of Clinical Medicine, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, China.

Background: Brain metastases (BM) are common in lung cancer. However, data on the status of immune biomarkers in BM lesions remain limited.

Methods: We retrospectively analyzed PD-L1 expression and infiltration levels of CD3 , CD4 , CD8 T cells as biomarkers by immunohistochemistry in both BM lesions and primary lung cancer (PL) lesions of 29 lung cancer (LC) patients. Read More

Adv Med Sci 2022 May 17;67(2):229-233. Epub 2022 May 17.

Department of Pediatric Surgery and Urology, Medical University of Bialystok, Bialystok, Poland.

Purpose: Recent increase in incidence of meningiomas suggests the need to search for new risk factors. Leptin, a potentially pro-angiogenic and proliferative agent, could be a candidate for this role, as its expression correlates with body mass index (BMI). Because development of meningioma has also been linked to sex hormones, bisphenol A (BPA), a known xenoestrogen, can also be taken into consideration as a potential risk factor. Read More

Pediatr Blood Cancer 2022 May 20:e29770. Epub 2022 May 20.

Pediatrics Department, Nationwide Children's Hospital, Columbus, Ohio, USA.

Background: Medulloblastoma is the most common malignant brain tumor in children. While survival has improved in high-income countries (HIC), the outcomes for patients in low-to-middle-income countries (LMIC) are unclear. Therefore, we sought to determine the survival of children with medulloblastoma at the Instituto Nacional de Enfermedades Neoplasicas (INEN) between 1997 and 2013 in Peru. Read More

Ann Med Surg (Lond) 2022 Jun 11;78:103755. Epub 2022 May 11.

Department of Neurosurgery, Aleppo University Hospital, Aleppo University, Aleppo, Syria.

Introduction: Choroid Plexus Carcinomas (CPC) are rare malignant brain neoplasms of choroid plexus epithelium, with a tendency to occur in infants and children, especially those who are under two years of age. The Main symptoms of CPC include nausea, vomiting, headache, irritability, blurred vision, and seizures. Few studies discuss the therapeutic methods to treat this tumor. Read More

Mol Cell Biochem 2022 May 19. Epub 2022 May 19.

Institute of Basic and Translational Medicine, Shaanxi Key Laboratory of Ischemic Cardiovascular Disease, Shaanxi Key Laboratory of Brain Disorders, Xi'an Medical University, Xi'an, 710021, Shaanxi, China.

Tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) are a type of functionally plastic immune cell population in tumor microenvironment (TME) and mainly polarized into two phenotypes: M2 and M1-like TAMs. The M2-like TAMs could stimulate tumor growth and metastasis, tissue remodeling and immune-suppression, whereas M1-like TAMs could initiate immune response to dampen tumor progression. TAMs with different polarization phenotypes can produce various kinds of cytokines, chemokines and growth factors to regulate immunity and inflammatory responses. Read More

World Neurosurg 2022 May 16. Epub 2022 May 16.

Department of Oncology, Jinan University First Affiliated Hospital, No 613, Huangpu Avenue West, Tianhe District, Guangzhou City, Guangdong Province, P.R. China. Electronic address:

Background: Owing to the complexities of brain metastases (BM), accurate and reliable prognostic and predictive factors remain critical roadblocks in patients with lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) BM who undergo stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS).

Methods: In total, 132 patients with LUAD BM who underwent SRS were retrospectively analyzed; Cox proportional hazards analysis of imaging and clinical characteristics was used to identify independent predictors related to overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS).

Results: Our data indicated that iBMV (initial brain metastases velocity), KPS (Karnofsky Performance Score), and Rvol (the sum of PE (peritumoral edema) volume/CITV (cumulative intracranial tumor volume)) could potentially be independent prognostic factors for OS. Read More

Cancer Lett 2022 May 16:215726. Epub 2022 May 16.

Department of Cancer Biology, Wake Forest School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, North Carolina, USA; Breast Cancer Center of Excellence, Wake Forest School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, North Carolina, USA; Wake Forest Baptist Comprehensive Cancer Center, Wake Forest School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, North Carolina, USA. Electronic address:

Mechanisms underlying breast cancer brain metastasis (BCBM) are still unclear. In this study, we observed that extracellular vesicles (EVs) secreted from breast cancer cells with increased expression of tGLI1, a BCBM-promoting transcription factor, strongly activated astrocytes. EV-derived microRNA/miRNA microarray revealed tGLI1-positive breast cancer cells highly secreted miR-1290 and miR-1246 encapsulated in EVs. Read More

Biochem Pharmacol 2022 May 16:115094. Epub 2022 May 16.

Department of Clinical Biochemistry and Laboratory Medicine, School of Medicine, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran. Electronic address:

Osteosarcoma (OS) is the third most common cancer in young adults after lymphoma and brain cancer. Metastasis, like other cellular events, is dependent on signaling pathways; a series of changes in some proteins and signaling pathways pave the way for OS cells to invade and migrate. Ezrin, TGF-β, Notch, RUNX2, matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs), Wnt/β-catenin, and phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K)/AKT are among the most important of these proteins and signaling pathways. Read More

Phys Med Biol 2022 May 19. Epub 2022 May 19.

China Medical University, Department of Biomedical Engineering, School of Intelligent Medicine, China Medical University, Shenyang, 110122, CHINA.

Objective: To develop and externally validate habitat-based MRI radiomics for preoperative prediction of the EGFR mutation status based on brain metastasis (BM) from primary lung adenocarcinoma (LA).

Approach: We retrospectively reviewed 150 and 38 patients from hospital 1 and hospital 2 between Jan. 2017 and Dec. Read More

Am J Clin Oncol 2022 Jun 26;45(6):258-263. Epub 2022 Apr 26.

Sarcoma Medical Oncology.

Purpose: We evaluated a cohort of patients with cardiac angiosarcomas (CA) who developed brain metastases (BM) to define outcomes and intracranial hemorrhage (IH) risk.

Methods: We reviewed 26 consecutive patients with BM treated between 1988 and 2020 identified from a departmental CA (n=103) database. Causes of death were recorded, and a terminal hemorrhage (TH) was defined as an IH that caused death or prompted a transfer to hospice. Read More

PLoS One 2022 19;17(5):e0265866. Epub 2022 May 19.

Porter School of Environment and Earth Sciences, Faculty of Exact Sciences, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel.

A major concern in tissue biopsies with a needle is missing the most lethal clone of a tumor, leading to a false negative result. This concern is well justified, since needle-based biopsies gather tissue information limited to needle size. In this work, we show that molecular harvesting with electroporation, e-biopsy, could increase the sampled tissue volume in comparison to tissue sampling by a needle alone. Read More

Eur Radiol 2022 May 19. Epub 2022 May 19.

Department of Radiology, the Second Affiliated Hospital, School of Medicine, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou, 510180, Guangdong, People's Republic of China.

Objective: (1) To evaluate the diagnostic performance of radiomics in differentiating high-grade glioma from brain metastasis and how to improve the model. (2) To assess the methodological quality of radiomics studies and explore ways of embracing the clinical application of radiomics.

Methods: Studies using radiomics to differentiate high-grade glioma from brain metastasis published by 26 July 2021 were systematically reviewed. Read More

Mol Oncol 2022 May 19. Epub 2022 May 19.

Departamento de Bioquímica, Facultad de Medicina, Instituto de Investigaciones Biomédicas "Alberto Sols", CSIC-UAM, IdiPAZ, E-28029, Madrid, Spain.

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the third most common cancer and the second leading cause of cancer-related death worldwide. Alterations in proteins of the p53family are a common event in CRC. ΔNp73, a p53-family member, shows oncogenic properties and its effectors are largely unknown. Read More

Front Endocrinol (Lausanne) 2022 2;13:869006. Epub 2022 May 2.

Department of Pathophysiology and Transplantation, University of Milan, Milan, Italy.

Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) are an important class of epigenetic regulators involved in both physiological processes and cancer development. Preliminary evidence suggested that lncRNAs could act as accurate prognostic and diagnostic biomarkers. Parathyroid cancer is a rare endocrine neoplasia, whose management represents a clinical challenge due to the lack of accurate molecular biomarkers. Read More

Neurosurg Rev 2022 May 18. Epub 2022 May 18.

Radiation Oncology Unit, Department of Medicine, Surgery and Neuroscience, University of Siena, Siena, Italy.

The use of a mini-craniotomy approach involving linear skin incision and a bone flap of about 3 cm has been reported for several neurosurgical diseases, such as aneurysms or cranial base tumors. More superficial lesions, including intra-axial tumors, may occasionally raise concerns due to insufficient control of the tumor boundaries. The convenience of a minimally invasive approach to intrinsic brain tumors was evaluated by comparing 161 patients who underwent mini-craniotomy (MC) for intra-axial brain tumors with a group of 145 patients operated on by the same surgical team through a conventional craniotomy (CC). Read More

Sci Rep 2022 May 18;12(1):8287. Epub 2022 May 18.

Department of Laboratory Medicine, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Severance Hospital, 50 Yonsei-ro, Seodaemun-gu, Seoul, 03722, Republic of Korea.

Accurate detection of cytogenetic abnormalities has become more important for improving risk-adapted treatment strategies in multiple myeloma (MM). However, precise cytogenetic testing by fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) is challenged by the dilution effect of bone marrow specimens and poor growth of plasma cells ex vivo. It has been suggested that FISH should be performed in combination with plasma cell enrichment strategies. Read More

Cell Rep 2022 May;39(7):110836

Department of Biological Regulation, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot 76100, Israel. Electronic address:

Cancer-associated mutations in genes encoding histones dramatically reshape chromatin and support tumorigenesis. Lysine to methionine substitution of residue 27 on histone H3 (K27M) is a driver mutation in high-grade pediatric gliomas, known to abrogate polycomb repressive complex 2 (PRC2) activity. We applied single-molecule systems to image individual nucleosomes and delineate the combinatorial epigenetic patterns associated with H3-K27M expression. Read More

Cell Rep Med 2022 May 27;3(5):100620. Epub 2022 Apr 27.

Emory Vaccine Center, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA, USA; Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA, USA. Electronic address:

Metastatic disease in the brain is difficult to control and predicts poor prognosis. Here, we analyze human brain metastases and demonstrate their robust infiltration by CD8 T cell subsets with distinct antigen specificities, phenotypic states, and spatial localization within the tumor microenvironment. Brain metastases are densely infiltrated by T cells; the majority of infiltrating CD8 T cells express PD-1. Read More

Cell Rep Med 2022 May 3;3(5):100623. Epub 2022 May 3.

Instituto de Medicina Molecular João Lobo Antunes, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade de Lisboa, Lisboa, Portugal.

Dissemination of cancer cells from primary tumors to the brain occurs in many cancer patients, increasing morbidity and death. There is an unmet medical need to develop translational platforms to evaluate therapeutic responses. Toward this goal, we established a library of 23 patient-derived xenografts (PDXs) of brain metastases (BMs) from eight distinct primary tumors. Read More

JCO Precis Oncol 2022 May;6:e2100522

Department of Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA.

Purpose: The CNS is a recurrent site of progression in anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK)-rearranged (ALK+) lung cancer. Lorlatinib is a third-generation ALK inhibitor developed to penetrate the CNS and overcome resistance mutations. We conducted a phase II study to evaluate the intracranial activity of lorlatinib in patients with CNS-only progression on second-generation ALK inhibitors. Read More

N Engl J Med 2022 May;386(20):1922-1931

From the Department of Neurosurgery, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore.

Cancer Res 2022 May 18. Epub 2022 May 18.

Vall d Hebron Institute of Oncology (VHIO), Barcelona, Spain.

The therapeutic benefit of approved BRAF and MEK inhibitors (BRAFi/MEKi) in patients with brain metastatic BRAF V600E/K-mutated melanoma is limited and transient. Resistance largely occurs through the restoration of MAPK signaling via paradoxical BRAF activation, highlighting the need for more effective therapeutic options. Aiming to address this clinical challenge, we characterized the activity of a potent, brain-penetrant paradox breaker BRAFi (compound 1a, C1a) as first line therapy and following progression upon treatment with approved BRAFi and BRAFi/MEKi therapies. Read More

J Cancer Res Clin Oncol 2022 May 18. Epub 2022 May 18.

Shandong Cancer Hospital, Cheeloo College of Medicine, Shandong University, Jinan, Shandong, People's Republic of China.

Background: Leptomeningeal metastases (LMs) are highly invasive which leads to poor prognosis, but the accurate diagnosis of LM is challenging. It is necessary to investigate more advanced diagnostic methods to realize precision medicine. The main purpose of this study was to select a more effective method for the auxiliary diagnosis of LM by comparing various detection methods. Read More

Medicine (Baltimore) 2022 May 13;101(19):e29237. Epub 2022 May 13.

Department of Pathology, Second Hospital of Hebei Medical University, Shijiazhuang, China.

Rationale: Glioneuronal tumor with neuropil-like islands (GTNI) is a distinctive neoplasm located in the cerebrum. Moreover, spinal GTNI is extremely rare. Herein, we present a case of spinal GTNI and review the related literature. Read More

Rev Med Suisse 2022 May;18(782):976-983

Service d'oncologie, Centre hospitalier universitaire vaudois, Université de Lausanne, 1004 Lausanne.

Brain metastases (BM) are a common occurrence of systemic cancers. Technical improvements in neuroimaging offer additional tools for an early detection of BM, to target them precisely and differentiate these lesions from other cerebral pathologies. The therapeutic tools have also evolved from neurosurgery and whole brain therapy to include stereotactic radiosurgery, targeted and immune therapies. Read More

Phys Ther Res 2022 12;25(1):41-48. Epub 2022 Jan 12.

Centro Superior de Estudios Universitarios La Salle, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Spain.

Objective: Among solid tumours, medulloblastoma is the most common of the posterior fossa neoplasms, given that it represents 15%-20% of childhood brain tumours. The main aim of the present study was to assess the effects of action observation training on the activities of daily living (ADL) and the manipulation skills of children with acquired brain injury secondary to an oncological process.

Methods: We recruited a consecutive convenience sample of 5 patients diagnosed with acquired brain injury secondary to an oncological process. Read More

BMJ Case Rep 2022 May 17;15(5). Epub 2022 May 17.

Medical Image Department, Neuroradiology Unit, Centro Hospitalar e Universitario de Coimbra EPE, Coimbra, Portugal.