title: Endovascular therapies for malignant gliomas: Challenges and the future.
abstract: Malignant gliomas are very difficult tumors to treat, with few effective therapies, early progression and high rates of recurrence. Here we review the literature on malignant gliomas treated with endovascular therapy. Endovascular therapy for malignant gliomas falls into one of three categories: (1) neoadjuvant embolization and devascularization; (2) direct intra-arterial drug delivery; and (3) disruption of the blood-brain barrier for improved intra-arterial drug delivery. There is a range of therapeutic benefits based on the endovascular intervention used. Challenges remain for those who aim to treat malignant gliomas with an endovascular approach. Specifically, embolization is difficult to accomplish in the small vessels that feed into malignant gliomas, and intra-arterial chemotherapy has yet to prove itself better than traditional intravenous chemotherapy. However, there exists promise in the therapeutic potential of intra-arterial chemotherapy paired with disruption of the blood-brain barrier at tumor-specific sites, and as such, continued research to optimize this approach is expected to yield benefit for patients with malignant gliomas.
authors: Department of Neurosurgery, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, USA.
authors: YouRong Sophie
authors: YS
authors: Su
authors: Department of Neurosurgery, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, USA.
authors: Rohaid
authors: R
authors: Ali
authors: Department of Neurosurgery, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, USA.
authors: Abdullah H
authors: AH
authors: Feroze
authors: Department of Neurosurgery, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, USA.
authors: Gordon
authors: G
authors: Li
authors: Department of Neurological Surgery, University of California San Francisco, 505 Parnassus Avenue, Room M779, San Francisco, CA 94143-0112, USA.
authors: Michael T
authors: MT
authors: Lawton
authors: Department of Neurological Surgery, University of California San Francisco, 505 Parnassus Avenue, Room M779, San Francisco, CA 94143-0112, USA. Electronic address: Omar.Choudhri@ucsf.edu.
authors: Omar
authors: O
authors: Choudhri
mesh_terms: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001812:Blood-Brain Barrier / Q000187:drug effects*; D001932:Brain Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000628:therapy*; D016503:Drug Delivery Systems; D004621:Embolization, Therapeutic / Q000379:methods*; D005910:Glioma / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000628:therapy*; D006801:Humans; D020360:Neoadjuvant Therapy; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents
keywords: Anaplastic glioma; Blood-brain barrier; Endovascular; GBM; Glioblastoma; Malignant gliomas