Chemotherapy for metastatic tumors to the central nervous system.
Management of patients with central nervous system metastases poses numerous challenges. This review focuses on the use of chemotherapy in these patients, addressing treatment difficulties such as drug resistance and possible solutions. The impact of the blood-brain barrier is considered less of a limitation than once thought. The advent of targeted signal transduction inhibitors is noted in this context. The current efficacy of chemotherapeutic agents and combinations is also discussed, with results from large studies highlighting a positive survival trend for chemotherapy in selected tumor histologies.
Conrad
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Department of Neuro-Oncology, University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, 1515 Holcombe Boulevard, Box 0431, Houston, TX 77030, USA. cconrad@mdanderson.org
D000971:Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols / Q000493:pharmacokinetics / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001812:Blood-Brain Barrier; D016543:Central Nervous System Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000556:secondary*; D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic; D006801:Humans; D015398:Signal Transduction; D016019:Survival Analysis; D016896:Treatment Outcome