Chemotherapy for brain tumors of astrocytic and oligodendroglial lineage: the past decade and where we are heading.
Over the past three decades, we have made great strides in the treatment of most, but not all, brain tumors. Dramatic advances have occurred in diagnostic imaging, neurosurgery, neuroanesthesia, radiotherapy, and chemotherapy for CNS tumors. Unfortunately, our progress has not yet met our expectations. Because of the infiltrative nature of most primary brain tumors, neurosurgery can never be expected to be curative for the majority of gliomas. Because infiltrative tumors interdigitate with normal brain cells and are not highly sensitive to irradiation, one cannot expect radiotherapy to be curative without serious damage to normal brain cells. The hope for a cure, then, rests with chemotherapy. Those who administer chemotherapy to patients with CNS tumors fully expect that, in time, long-term survival and, ultimately, the cure will become an everyday reality. To achieve that reality, however, new treatment concepts and drugs are needed.
Levin
V A
VA
Department of Neuro-Oncology, Brain Tumor Center, M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, University of Texas, Houston, TX 77030, USA.
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D020533:Angiogenesis Inhibitors / Q000627:therapeutic use; D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000145:classification / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use; D018906:Antineoplastic Agents, Alkylating / Q000627:therapeutic use; D001254:Astrocytoma / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000532:radiotherapy / Q000601:surgery; D001932:Brain Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000532:radiotherapy / Q000601:surgery; D017024:Chemotherapy, Adjuvant; D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic; D004334:Drug Administration Schedule; D019008:Drug Resistance, Neoplasm; D005260:Female; D005544:Forecasting; D005909:Glioblastoma / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000532:radiotherapy / Q000601:surgery; D006801:Humans; D007155:Immunologic Factors / Q000627:therapeutic use; D007269:Injections, Intra-Arterial; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015337:Multicenter Studies as Topic; D009364:Neoplasm Recurrence, Local / Q000188:drug therapy; D009837:Oligodendroglioma / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000532:radiotherapy / Q000601:surgery; D010166:Palliative Care; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000187:drug effects; D016019:Survival Analysis
D020533:Angiogenesis Inhibitors; D000970:Antineoplastic Agents; D018906:Antineoplastic Agents, Alkylating; D007155:Immunologic Factors