iPedia Free Information Center

Information about Glioma

Glioma
Classification & external resources
ICD-10C71.
ICD-9191
ICD-O:9380/0-9460/3
DiseasesDB31468
A glioma is a type of primary central nervous system (CNS) tumor that arises from glial cells. The most common site of involvement of gliomas is the brain, but they can also affect the spinal cord or any other part of the CNS, such as the optic nerves.[1]

Classification

By type of cell

Gliomas are named according to the specific type of cell they most closely resemble. The main types of gliomas are:

By grade

Gliomas are further categorized according to their grade, which is determined by pathologic evaluation of the tumor.
  • Low grade gliomas are well-differentiated (not anaplastic); these are benign and portend a better prognosis for the patient.
  • High grade gliomas are undifferentiated or anaplastic; these are malignant and carry a worse prognosis.
Of numerous grading systems in use, the most common is the World Health Organization (WHO) grading system for astrocytoma. The WHO system assigns a grade from 1 to 4, with 1 being the least aggressive and 4 being the most aggressive. Various types of astrocytomas are given corresponding WHO grades.

WHO grading system for astrocytomas
*WHO Grade 1 — e.g. pilocytic astrocytoma
*WHO Grade 2 — e.g. diffuse or low-grade astrocytoma
*WHO Grade 3 — e.g. anaplastic (malignant) astrocytoma
*WHO Grade 4 — glioblastoma multiforme (most common glioma in adults)


The prognosis is the worst for grade 4 gliomas, with an average survival time of 12 months. Overall, few patients survive beyond 3 years. [1] [2]

By location

The gliomas can also be roughly classified according to their location:
  • infratentorial : mostly in children (70%)
  • supratentorial : mostly in adults (70%)

Symptoms

Symptoms of gliomas depend on which part of the central nervous system is affected. A brain glioma can cause headaches, nausea and vomiting, seizures, and cranial nerve disorders as a result of increased intracranial pressure. A glioma of the optic nerve can cause visual loss. Spinal cord gliomas can cause pain, weakness or numbness in the extremities. Gliomas do not metastasize by the bloodstream, but they can spread via the cerebrospinal fluid and cause "drop metastases" to the spinal cord.

Pathology

High grade gliomas are highly vascular tumors and have a tendency to infiltrate. They have extensive areas of necrosis and hypoxia. Often tumor growth causes a breakdown of the blood-brain barrier in the vicinity of the tumor. As a rule, high grade gliomas almost always grow back even after complete surgical excision.

On the other hand, low grade gliomas grow slowly, often over many years, and can be followed without treatment unless they grow and cause symptoms.

Treatment

Standard therapy

Treatment for brain gliomas depends on the location and the grade. Often, treatment is a combined approach, using surgery, radiation therapy, and chemotherapy. The radiation therapy is in the form of external beam radiation or the stereotactic approach using radiosurgery. Spinal cord tumors can be treated by surgery and radiation. Temozolomide is a chemotherapeutic drug that is able to cross the blood-brain barrier effectively and is being used in therapy.

Experimental therapies

The use of oncolytic viruses or gene therapy using prodrug converting retroviruses and adenoviruses is being studied for the treatment of gliomas.[2][3]

A small number of low-scale clinical studies have shown possible links between prescription of Carphedon and improvement in a number of encephalopathic conditions, including lesions of cerebral blood pathways and certain types of glioma.

American scientists are also studying the effects of Leiurus quinquestriatus scorpion (Israeli Yellow Scorpion) venom on glioma. They have successfully isolated the peptide chlorotoxin from the venom of the L. quinquestriatus scorpion by means of gel filtration chromatography. The peptide appears to target glioma-specific chloride ion channels within the cancerous glial cells of the brain, where it binds with a high affinity.

In 2006, German physicians reported on a dose-escalation study for the compound AP 12009 (a phosphorothioate antisense oligodeoxynucleotide specific for the mRNA of human transforming growth factor TGF-beta2) in patients with high grade gliomas. At the time of the report, the median overall survival had not been obtained and the authors hinted at a potential cure.

As of 2006, additional research started within the past few years is ongoing. Some of the topics included in this research are:
  • efficiency of variations in radiotherapy procedures
  • drugs to stop the growth of tumors by preventing them to develop blood vessels
  • efficiency of combinations of different treatments
  • vaccination therapy
Although there have been individual cases of patients receiving an experimental treatment who still showed no signs of tumor 3 years or even more after the first diagnosis, often a new treatment for GBM will already be considered successful if it significantly increases the percentage of survivors after two years.

References

1. ^ Mamelak A.N., and Jacoby, D.B. Targeted delivery of antitumoral therapy to glioma and other malignancies with synthetic chlorotoxin (TM-601) Expert Opin. Drug Drliv. (2007) 4(2):175-186.
2. ^ Gromeier M, Wimmer E (2001). "Viruses for the treatment of malignant glioma". Curr. Opin. Mol. Ther. 3 (5): 503-8. PMID 11699896. 
3. ^ Rainov N, Ren H (2003). "Gene therapy for human malignant brain tumors". Cancer journal (Sudbury, Mass.) 9 (3): 180-8. PMID 12952303. 

External links

 •  • [ e]
Nervous tissue tumors (ICD-O 9350-9589)
Miscellaneous tumors (9350-9370)Craniopharyngioma - Pinealoma - Chordoma
Glioma (9380-9480)Gliomatosis cerebri - Oligoastrocytoma - Ependymoma - Astrocytoma (Pilocytic astrocytoma, Glioblastoma multiforme) - Dysembryoplastic neuroepithelial tumour - Oligodendroglioma - Medulloblastoma - Primitive neuroectodermal tumor
Neuroepitheliomatous (9490-9520)Ganglioneuroma - Neuroblastoma - Atypical teratoid rhabdoid tumor - Retinoblastoma
Meningiomas (9530)Meningioma
Nerve sheath tumor (9540-9570)Neurofibroma (Neurofibrosarcoma, Neurofibromatosis) - Schwannoma - Neurinoma - Acoustic neuroma - Neuroma
see also brain tumors (though not all brain tumors are of nervous tissue)
For other uses of "ICD", see ICD (disambiguation).


The International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems (most commonly known by the abbreviation ICD
..... Click the link for more information.
List of ICD-10 codes. The version for 2007 is available online at [1]

Chapter Blocks Title
I Certain infectious and parasitic diseases
II Neoplasms
III Diseases of the blood and blood-forming organs and certain disorders involving the immune mechanism
..... Click the link for more information.
For other uses of "ICD", see ICD (disambiguation).


The International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems (most commonly known by the abbreviation ICD
..... Click the link for more information.
The following is a list of codes for International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems. These codes are in the public domain.

See also


..... Click the link for more information.
The International Classification of Diseases for Oncology (ICD-O) is a domain specific extension of the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems for tumor diseases. This classification is widely used by cancer registries.
..... Click the link for more information.
The Diseases Database is a free website that provides information about the relationships between medical conditions, symptoms, and medications.

It directly integrates the Unified Medical Language System.

External links

  • Diseases Database

..... Click the link for more information.
The central nervous system (CNS) represents the largest part of the nervous system, including the brain and the spinal cord. Together with the peripheral nervous system, it has a fundamental role in the control of behavior.
..... Click the link for more information.
For malignant tumors specifically, see .


Tumor or tumour (via Old French tumour from Latin tumor "swelling") is an abnormal growth or mass of tissue. A tumor can be either malignant or benign.
..... Click the link for more information.
Glial cells, commonly called neuroglia or simply glia (greek for "glue"), are non-neuronal cells that provide support and nutrition, maintain homeostasis, form myelin, and participate in signal transmission in the nervous system.
..... Click the link for more information.
MeSH D004806 Ependymoma is a tumor that arises from the ependyma, a tissue of the central nervous system. Usually, in children the location is intracranial, while in adults it is spinal. The common location of intracranial ependymoma is the fourth ventricle.
..... Click the link for more information.
Glial cells, commonly called neuroglia or simply glia (greek for "glue"), are non-neuronal cells that provide support and nutrition, maintain homeostasis, form myelin, and participate in signal transmission in the nervous system.
..... Click the link for more information.
Astrocytoma
Classification & external resources

ICD-10 C 71.
ICD-9 191
ICD-O: M 9400/3
OMIM 137800
DiseasesDB 29449

eMedicine med/2693   Astrocytomas are primary intracranial tumors derived from astrocytes cells of the brain.
..... Click the link for more information.
Astrocytes (also known collectively as astroglia) are characteristic star-shaped glial cells in the brain. They perform many functions, including biochemical support of endothelial cells which form the blood-brain barrier, the provision of nutrients to the nervous tissue,
..... Click the link for more information.
MeSH D009837 Oligodendrogliomas are a type of glioma that are believed to originate from the oligodendrocytes of the brain or from a glial precursor cell. They occur primarily in adults (9.
..... Click the link for more information.
Oligodendrocyte

General Information
Tissue type Nervous
Cell type Neuroglia
Location Central nervous system
Role Myelination
Identification Robertson, 1899
Ultrastructure
Soma size
..... Click the link for more information.
Oligoastrocytoma
Classification & external resources

ICD-O: 9382

Oligoastrocytomas are a subset of brain tumor that present with an appearance of mixed glial cell origin, astrocytoma and oligodendroglioma. Often called a "mixed glioma", about 2.
..... Click the link for more information.
Grade may refer to:

In education

  • Grade (education), a teacher's evaluation of a student's performance or achievement
  • Grade level, the numbering of the year a student has reached in school.

..... Click the link for more information.
Pathologist redirects here. For other uses of the terms pathology or pathological, see pathology (disambiguation).


Pathology is the study and diagnosis of disease through examination of organs, tissues, cells and bodily fluids.
..... Click the link for more information.
Editing of this page by unregistered or newly registered users is currently disabled due to vandalism.
If you are prevented from editing this page, and you wish to make a change, please discuss changes on the talk page, request unprotection, log in, or .
..... Click the link for more information.
Anaplasia or de-differentiation refers to cells that are abnormally undifferentiated. The loss (or lack) of normal cell differentiation is characteristic of most very malignant tumors.
..... Click the link for more information.
Editing of this page by unregistered or newly registered users is currently disabled due to vandalism.
If you are prevented from editing this page, and you wish to make a change, please discuss changes on the talk page, request unprotection, log in, or .
..... Click the link for more information.
World Health Organization (WHO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) that acts as a coordinating authority on international public health. Established on 7 April 1948, and headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, the agency inherited the mandate and resources of
..... Click the link for more information.
Pilocytic astrocytoma
Classification & external resources

ICD-10 C 71.
ICD-9 191
ICD-O: M 9421/1

eMedicine radio/367  
MeSH D001254 Pilocytic astrocytoma
..... Click the link for more information.
Anaplasia or de-differentiation refers to cells that are abnormally undifferentiated. The loss (or lack) of normal cell differentiation is characteristic of most very malignant tumors.
..... Click the link for more information.
Editing of this page by unregistered or newly registered users is currently disabled due to vandalism.
If you are prevented from editing this page, and you wish to make a change, please discuss changes on the talk page, request unprotection, log in, or .
..... Click the link for more information.
Glioblastoma multiforme
Classification & external resources

ICD-10 C 71.
ICD-9 191
ICD-O: 9440/3
OMIM 137800
DiseasesDB 29448

eMedicine neuro/147  
MeSH D005909

Glioblastoma multiforme
..... Click the link for more information.
In anatomy the supratentorial area is located above the tentorium cerebelli. It contains the forebrain.
  • A diagram of what is considered supratentorial

..... Click the link for more information.
Headache
Classifications and external resources

ICD-10 R 51.
ICD-9 784.0

A headache (cephalgia in medical terminology) is a condition of pain in the head; sometimes neck or upper back pain may also be interpreted as a headache.
..... Click the link for more information.
Nausea
Classifications and external resources

ICD-10 R 11.
ICD-9 787.0

Nausea (Latin: Nausea, Greek: Ναυτεία
..... Click the link for more information.
Emesis redirects here. For the genus of metalmark butterflies, see Emesis (butterfly). Heaving redirects here. For the up-and-down motion, see heave.

..... Click the link for more information.


This article is copied from an article on Wikipedia.org - the free encyclopedia created and edited by online user community. The text was not checked or edited by anyone on our staff. Although the vast majority of the wikipedia encyclopedia articles provide accurate and timely information please do not assume the accuracy of any particular article. This article is distributed under the terms of GNU Free Documentation License.
Herod_Archelaus


page counter