title: Intramedullary spinal cord tumors: a review of current and future treatment strategies.
abstract: Intramedullary spinal cord tumors have low incidence rates but are associated with difficult treatment options. The majority of patients with these tumors can be initially treated with an attempted resection. Unfortunately, those patients who cannot undergo gross-total resection or have subtotal resection are left with few treatment options, such as radiotherapy and chemotherapy. These adjuvant treatments, however, are associated with the potential for significant adverse side effects and still leave patients with a poor prognosis. To successfully manage these patients and improve both their quality of life and prognosis, novel treatment options must be developed to supplement subtotal resection. New research is underway investigating alternative therapeutic approaches for these patients, including directed, localized drug delivery and nanomedicine techniques. These and other future investigations will hopefully lead to promising new therapies for these devastating diseases.
authors.affiliation: Departments of 1 Neurosurgery and.
authors.forename: Matthew K
authors.initials: MK
authors.lastname: Tobin
authors.affiliation: Departments of 1 Neurosurgery and.
authors.forename: Joseph R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Geraghty
authors.affiliation: Departments of 1 Neurosurgery and.
authors.forename: Herbert H
authors.initials: HH
authors.lastname: Engelhard
authors.affiliation: Bioengineering, University of Illinois at Chicago, Illinois.
authors.forename: Andreas A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Linninger
authors.affiliation: Departments of 1 Neurosurgery and.
authors.forename: Ankit I
authors.initials: AI
authors.lastname: Mehta
mesh_terms: D003131:Combined Modality Therapy / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000379:methods; D016503:Drug Delivery Systems / Q000379:methods / Q000639:trends*; D004358:Drug Therapy / Q000379:methods; D064420:Drug-Related Side Effects and Adverse Reactions / Q000150:complications; D006801:Humans; D050997:Nanomedicine / Q000379:methods / Q000639:trends*; D019635:Neurosurgical Procedures / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000379:methods; D011379:Prognosis; D011878:Radiotherapy / Q000009:adverse effects; D013120:Spinal Cord Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000473:pathology / Q000532:radiotherapy / Q000601:surgery / Q000628:therapy*; D016896:Treatment Outcome
keywords: BSCB = blood-spinal cord barrier; CED = convection-enhanced delivery; EGFR = epidermal growth factor receptor; Fn14 = protein fibroblast growth factor-inducible 14; GCT = germ cell tumor; GTR = gross-total resection; IMSCT = intramedullary spinal cord tumor; STR = subtotal resection; VEGF = vascular endothelial growth factor; VHL = von Hippel-Lindau; astrocytomas; ependymoma; intramedullary spinal cord tumors; nanomedicine; resection; review