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Cancers
Special Issues
Functional Neuro-Oncology
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Functional Neuro-Oncology

A special issue of Cancers (ISSN 2072-6694).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 October 2021) | Viewed by 13882

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Alireza Mansouri

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, Hershey, PA, USA
Interests: glioma; brain metastases; brain mapping; pituitary adenoma; endoscopic surgery; radiosurgery; fluorescent-guided surgery; clinical trials; biomarkers; proteomics; cerebrospinal fluid
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Solmaz Sahebjam

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center and Research Institute, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL 33612, USA
Interests: Primary brain tumors; brain metastases; drug development

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

There is increasing evidence to support the notion that the nervous system plays a pivotal role in the progression of brain neoplasms, both primary and metastatic. Specifically, we know that the progression of glial tumors is driven by neuronal activity, mediated through secreted growth factors along with direct synaptic communication. Similarly, the influence of tumor cells on the modulation of the structural and electrical activity of brain circuits has also been demonstrated. This line of evidence has bearings on our understanding of the underpinnings of tumor progression and response to treatment, as well as brain plasticity and the therapeutic implications. Together, this has culminated into the rise of functional neuro-oncology as a specialist subset of neuro-oncology.

The adoption of a functional approach to the management of brain tumors has improved our ability to achieve maximally safe tumor resection, elucidated several functional brain networks affected by tumors, and offered insight into the mechanism of brain tumor progression. However, this knowledge has also given rise to additional questions, concerning the role of the nervous system in the initiation of intrinsic brain tumors, the contribution of this interaction to the development of tumor-related epilepsy and strategies to mitigate it, the effect of various therapies on this interaction, and identifying opportunities for more effective therapeutic intervention. A more comprehensive understanding of this interplay can also be leveraged to improve cognitive rehabilitation.

This Special Issue will highlight the latest developments in the field of functional neuro-oncology, with a particular focus on further elaborating on our mechanistic understanding and therapeutic opportunities.  

Dr. Alireza Mansouri
Dr. Solmaz Sahebjam
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Cancers is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2900 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • glioma
  • brain tumor
  • epilepsy

Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

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10 pages, 599 KiB  
Article
Association of Low-Grade Glioma Diagnosis and Management Approach with Mental Health Disorders: A MarketScan Analysis 2005–2014
by Debarati Bhanja, Djibril Ba, Kyle Tuohy, Hannah Wilding, Mara Trifoi, Varun Padmanaban, Guodong Liu, Michael Sughrue, Brad Zacharia, Douglas Leslie and Alireza Mansouri
Cancers 2022, 14(6), 1376; https://doi.org/10.3390/cancers14061376 - 08 Mar 2022
Cited by 10 | Viewed by 2368
Abstract
Low-grade gliomas (LGGs) comprise 13–16% of glial tumors. As survival for LGG patients has been gradually improving, it is essential that the effects of diagnosis and disease progression on mental health be considered. This retrospective cohort study queried the IBM Watson Health MarketScan [...] Read more.
Low-grade gliomas (LGGs) comprise 13–16% of glial tumors. As survival for LGG patients has been gradually improving, it is essential that the effects of diagnosis and disease progression on mental health be considered. This retrospective cohort study queried the IBM Watson Health MarketScan® Database to describe the incidence and prevalence of mental health disorders (MHDs) among LGG patients and identify associated risk factors. Among the 20,432 LGG patients identified, 12,436 (60.9%) had at least one MHD. Of those who never had a prior MHD, as documented in the claims record, 1915 (16.7%) had their first, newly diagnosed MHD within 12 months after LGG diagnosis. Patients who were female (odds ratio (OR), 1.14, 95% confidence intervals (CI), 1.03–1.26), aged 35–44 (OR, 1.20, 95% CI, 1.03–1.39), and experienced glioma-related seizures (OR, 2.19, 95% CI, 1.95–2.47) were significantly associated with MHD incidence. Patients who underwent resection (OR, 2.58, 95% CI, 2.19–3.04) or biopsy (OR, 2.17, 95% CI, 1.68–2.79) were also more likely to develop a MHD compared to patients who did not undergo a first-line surgical treatment. These data support the need for active surveillance, proactive counseling, and management of MHDs in patients with LGG. Impact of surgery on brain networks affecting mood should also be considered. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Functional Neuro-Oncology)
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Review

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10 pages, 1093 KiB  
Review
Neuro-Oncology Patients as Human Research Subjects: Ethical Considerations for Cognitive and Behavioral Testing for Research Purposes
by Jasleen Kaur, Andrew Egladyous, Claudia Valdivia, Andy G. S. Daniel, Saritha Krishna, Alexander A. Aabedi, David Brang and Shawn L. Hervey-Jumper
Cancers 2022, 14(3), 692; https://doi.org/10.3390/cancers14030692 - 29 Jan 2022
Viewed by 1806
Abstract
Language, cognition, and behavioral testing have become a fundamental component of standard clinical care for brain cancer patients. Many existing publications have identified and addressed potential ethical issues that are present in the biomedical setting mostly centering around the enrollment of vulnerable populations [...] Read more.
Language, cognition, and behavioral testing have become a fundamental component of standard clinical care for brain cancer patients. Many existing publications have identified and addressed potential ethical issues that are present in the biomedical setting mostly centering around the enrollment of vulnerable populations for therapeutic clinical trials. Well-established guides and publications have served as useful tools for clinicians; however, little has been published for researchers who share the same stage but administer tests and collect valuable data solely for non-therapeutic investigational purposes derived from voluntary patient participation. Obtaining informed consent and administering language, cognition, and behavioral tasks for the sole purpose of research involving cancer patients that exhibit motor speech difficulties and cognitive impairments has its own hardships. Researchers may encounter patients who experience emotional responses during tasks that challenge their existing impairments. Patients may have difficulty differentiating between clinical testing and research testing due to similarity of task design and their physician’s dual role as a principal investigator in the study. It is important for researchers to practice the proposed methods emphasized in this article to maintain the overall well-being of patients while simultaneously fulfilling the purpose of the study in a research setting. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Functional Neuro-Oncology)
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12 pages, 2498 KiB  
Review
A Network-Based Approach to Glioma Surgery: Insights from Functional Neurosurgery
by Nardin Samuel, Artur Vetkas, Aditya Pancholi, Can Sarica, Aaron Loh, Jurgen Germann, Irene E. Harmsen, Jordy Tasserie, Vanessa Milano, Kazuaki Yamamoto, Suneil K. Kalia, Paul N. Kongkham and Andres M. Lozano
Cancers 2021, 13(23), 6127; https://doi.org/10.3390/cancers13236127 - 05 Dec 2021
Cited by 9 | Viewed by 3008
Abstract
The evaluation and manipulation of structural and functional networks, which has been integral to advancing functional neurosurgery, is beginning to transcend classical subspecialty boundaries. Notably, its application in neuro-oncologic surgery has stimulated an exciting paradigm shift from the traditional localizationist approach, which is [...] Read more.
The evaluation and manipulation of structural and functional networks, which has been integral to advancing functional neurosurgery, is beginning to transcend classical subspecialty boundaries. Notably, its application in neuro-oncologic surgery has stimulated an exciting paradigm shift from the traditional localizationist approach, which is lacking in nuance and optimization. This manuscript reviews the existing literature and explores how structural and functional connectivity analyses have been leveraged to revolutionize and individualize pre-operative tumor evaluation and surgical planning. We describe how this novel approach may improve cognitive and neurologic preservation after surgery and attenuate tumor spread. Furthermore, we demonstrate how connectivity analysis combined with neuromodulation techniques can be employed to induce post-operative neuroplasticity and personalize neurorehabilitation. While the landscape of functional neuro-oncology is still evolving and requires further study to encourage more widespread adoption, this functional approach can transform the practice of neuro-oncologic surgery and improve the care and outcomes of patients with intra-axial tumors. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Functional Neuro-Oncology)
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Other

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11 pages, 1604 KiB  
Perspective
Untapped Neuroimaging Tools for Neuro-Oncology: Connectomics and Spatial Transcriptomics
by Jurgen Germann, Gelareh Zadeh, Alireza Mansouri, Walter Kucharczyk, Andres M. Lozano and Alexandre Boutet
Cancers 2022, 14(3), 464; https://doi.org/10.3390/cancers14030464 - 18 Jan 2022
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 2749
Abstract
Neuro-oncology research is broad and includes several branches, one of which is neuroimaging. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is instrumental for the diagnosis and treatment monitoring of patients with brain tumors. Most commonly, structural and perfusion MRI sequences are acquired to characterize tumors and [...] Read more.
Neuro-oncology research is broad and includes several branches, one of which is neuroimaging. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is instrumental for the diagnosis and treatment monitoring of patients with brain tumors. Most commonly, structural and perfusion MRI sequences are acquired to characterize tumors and understand their behaviors. Thanks to technological advances, structural brain MRI can now be transformed into a so-called average brain accounting for individual morphological differences, which enables retrospective group analysis. These normative analyses are uncommonly used in neuro-oncology research. Once the data have been normalized, voxel-wise analyses and spatial mapping can be performed. Additionally, investigations of underlying connectomics can be performed using functional and structural templates. Additionally, a recently available template of spatial transcriptomics has enabled the assessment of associated gene expression. The few published normative analyses have shown relationships between tumor characteristics and spatial localization, as well as insights into the circuitry associated with epileptogenic tumors and depression after cingulate tumor resection. The wide breadth of possibilities with normative analyses remain largely unexplored, specifically in terms of connectomics and imaging transcriptomics. We provide a framework for performing normative analyses in oncology while also highlighting their limitations. Normative analyses are an opportunity to address neuro-oncology questions from a different perspective. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Functional Neuro-Oncology)
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10 pages, 662 KiB  
Systematic Review
Laser Interstitial Thermal Therapy for Posterior Fossa Lesions: A Systematic Review and Analysis of Multi-Institutional Outcomes
by Mohammadmahdi Sabahi, Stephen J. Bordes, Edinson Najera, Alireza M. Mohammadi, Gene H. Barnett, Badih Adada and Hamid Borghei-Razavi
Cancers 2022, 14(2), 456; https://doi.org/10.3390/cancers14020456 - 17 Jan 2022
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 2341
Abstract
Background: Laser interstitial thermal therapy (LITT) has emerged as a treatment option for deep-seated primary and metastatic brain lesions; however, hardly any data exist regarding LITT for lesions of the posterior fossa. Methods: A quantitative systematic review was performed. Article selection was performed [...] Read more.
Background: Laser interstitial thermal therapy (LITT) has emerged as a treatment option for deep-seated primary and metastatic brain lesions; however, hardly any data exist regarding LITT for lesions of the posterior fossa. Methods: A quantitative systematic review was performed. Article selection was performed by searching MEDLINE (using PubMed), Scopus, and Cochrane electronic bibliographic databases. Inclusion criteria were studies assessing LITT on posterior fossa tumors. Results: 16 studies comprising 150 patients (76.1% female) with a mean age of 56.47 years between 2014 and 2021 were systematically reviewed for treatment outcomes and efficacy. Morbidity and mortality data could be extracted for 131 of the 150 patients. Death attributed to treatment failure, disease progression, recurrence, or postoperative complications occurred in 6.87% (9/131) of the pooled sample. Procedure-related complications, usually including new neurologic deficits, occurred in approximately 14.5% (19/131) of the pooled sample. Neurologic deficits improved with time in most cases, and 78.6% (103/131) of the pooled sample experienced no complications and progression-free survival at the time of last follow-up. Conclusions: LITT for lesions of the posterior fossa continues to show promising data. Future clinical cohort studies are required to further direct treatment recommendations. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Functional Neuro-Oncology)
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