Glioma: Novel considerations and treatment modalities

Glioma tumors often evade traditional cancer treatments and quickly invade healthy brain tissue. Current clinical perspective focuses on the invasiveness of glioma cells which follow distinct anatomic structures within the central nervous system. Advances in magnetic resonance imaging have made it the procedure of choice for identifying brainstem gliomas and classifying them anatomically. Etiologic considerations include adhesion, migration, invasiveness, cell proliferation, angiogenesis and neurotoxin release. This review examines various novel interventions used in treating these deadly growths to prolong life. Recent interventional studies, detecting the cancer's unique characteristics, include the mechanisms that help it survive and spread throughout the brain. Current therapies include those that target glioma cells only, limit the spread of the cancer or block molecules which sustain the tumor. A variety of specific agents, general chemotherapy, radiotherapy and surgery are discussed.