Cancers

Journal Browser

► Journal Browser

Special Issue Editors

Dr. J. Bryan Iorgulescu

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor

Department of Pathology, Brigham and Women’s Hospital; Department of Medical Oncology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute; Harvard Medical School. 450 Brookline Ave., Boston, MA 02215, USA
Interests: brain tumors; molecular pathology; immuno-oncology; immunogenomics; glioblastoma; outcomes and health services research

Dr. Timothy R. Smith

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor

Computational Neuroscience Outcomes Center, Department of Neurosurgery, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA
Interests: brain tumors; neurosurgery; digital phenotyping; pituitary tumors; data science
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Despite many advances in our understanding of the molecular underpinnings of infiltrative gliomas, therapeutic progress remains relatively slow. This Special Issue explores emerging insights regarding the pathophysiology, diagnosis, and management of infiltrative gliomas, including IDH–mutant and 1p/19q-codeleted oligodendrogliomas, IDH–mutant astrocytomas, H3 histone–mutant diffuse midline gliomas, and IDH–wildtype glioblastomas.

Novel experimental technologies and modelling techniques have enabled the investigation of glioma pathophysiology with both unprecedented resolution and translational relevance. These efforts are generating keen insights regarding gliomas’ inter-tumoral and intra-tumoral heterogeneity, genomics and epigenomics, down to the single cell level. In parallel, there is growing appreciation of the diverse cellular ecosystem within infiltrative gliomas’ microenvironment, which comprises not just tumor and lymphoid cells, but also an intricate interplay of myeloid, neuronal, glial, and vascular populations.

In diagnostics, molecular pathology has revolutionized the classification schema of infiltrative gliomas, whereas advances in liquid biopsies promise to enable non-invasive diagnosis and surveillance. Innovation in data science, artificial intelligence, and imaging technologies are empowering radiomics, digital pathology, digital phenotyping, and next-generation diagnostics. Crucially, identification of druggable targets and predictive biomarkers may help us realize the benefits of precision medicine and targeted therapies for glioma patients.

For the management of patients with infiltrative gliomas, multiple promising frontiers in research are underway: from state-of-the-art neurosurgical and radiotherapeutic strategies, to new therapeutic modalities such as immuno-oncology and virotherapy. Approaches for overcoming the blood–brain barrier to permit effective drug delivery, as well as for innovative clinical trial design with clinically relevant surrogate endpoints, are increasingly needed in order to drive therapeutic advances. There is also burgeoning recognition of the critical importance of quality-of-life issues, patterns of care, and healthcare disparities in the management of patients with infiltrative gliomas, particularly in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The latest original research within this scope is cordially invited for submission to this Special Issue of Cancers. Timely expert perspectives, comprehensive reviews, and meta-analyses are also welcome.

Dr. J. Bryan Iorgulescu
Dr. Timothy R. Smith
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

infiltrative glioma
glioblastoma
astrocytoma
oligodendroglioma
brain tumor
pathophysiology
diagnosis
management
neuro-oncology
neurosurgery

Published Papers (2 papers)

Download All Papers

Research

Jump to: Other

17 pages, 2483 KiB

Open AccessArticle

The Translocator Protein (TSPO) Genetic Polymorphism A147T Is Associated with Worse Survival in Male Glioblastoma Patients

by Katie M. Troike, Arlet M. Acanda de la Rocha, Tyler J. Alban, Matthew M. Grabowski, Balint Otvos, Gino Cioffi, Kristin A. Waite, Jill S. Barnholtz Sloan, Justin D. Lathia, Tomás R. Guilarte and Diana J. Azzam

Cancers 2021, 13(18), 4525; https://doi.org/10.3390/cancers13184525 - 8 Sep 2021

Cited by 5 | Viewed by 4594

Abstract

Glioblastoma (GBM) is the most common primary brain tumor in adults, with few available therapies and a five-year survival rate of 7.2%. Hence, strategies for improving GBM prognosis are urgently needed. The translocator protein 18kDa (TSPO) plays crucial roles in essential mitochondria-based physiological processes and is a validated biomarker of neuroinflammation, which is implicated in GBM progression. The TSPO gene has a germline single nucleotide polymorphism, rs6971, which is the most common SNP in the Caucasian population. High TSPO gene expression is associated with reduced survival in GBM patients; however, the relation between the most frequent TSPO genetic variant and GBM pathogenesis is not known. The present study retrospectively analyzed the correlation of the TSPO polymorphic variant rs6971 with overall and progression-free survival in GBM patients using three independent cohorts. TSPO rs6971 polymorphism was significantly associated with shorter overall survival and progression-free survival in male GBM patients but not in females in one large cohort of 441 patients. We observed similar trends in two other independent cohorts. These observations suggest that the TSPO rs6971 polymorphism could be a significant predictor of poor prognosis in GBM, with a potential for use as a prognosis biomarker in GBM patients. These results reveal for the first time a biological sex-specific relation between rs6971 TSPO polymorphism and GBM. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Infiltrative Gliomas: Emerging Insights in Pathophysiology, Diagnosis, and Management)

► Show Figures

Figure 1

Other

Jump to: Research

11 pages, 1060 KiB

Open AccessSystematic Review

Surgery vs. Biopsy in the Treatment of Butterfly Glioblastoma: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

by Shreya Chawla, Vasileios K. Kavouridis, Alessandro Boaro, Rasika Korde, Sofia Amaral Medeiros, Heba Edrees, Elisabetta Mezzalira, Francesco Sala, Rania A. Mekary and Timothy R. Smith

Cancers 2022, 14(2), 314; https://doi.org/10.3390/cancers14020314 - 9 Jan 2022

Cited by 5 | Viewed by 2393

Abstract

Butterfly glioblastomas (bGBM) are grade IV gliomas that spread to bilateral hemispheres by infiltrating the corpus callosum. Data on the effect of surgery are limited to small case series. The aim of this meta-analysis was to compare resection vs. biopsy in terms of survival outcomes and postoperative complications. A systematic review of the literature was conducted using PubMed, EMBASE, and Cochrane databases through March 2021 in accordance with the PRISMA checklist. Pooled hazard ratios were calculated and meta-analyzed in a random-effects model including assessment of heterogeneity. Out of 3367 articles, seven studies were included with 293 patients. Surgical resection was significantly associated with longer overall survival (HR 0.39, 95%CI 0.2–0.55) than biopsy. Low heterogeneity was observed (I²: 0%). In further analysis, the effect persisted in extent of resection subgroups of both ≥80% and <80%. No statistically significant difference between surgery and biopsy was detected in terms of postoperative complications, although these were numerically larger for surgery. In patients with bGBM, surgical resection was associated with longer survival prospects compared with biopsy. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Infiltrative Gliomas: Emerging Insights in Pathophysiology, Diagnosis, and Management)

► Show Figures