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American Family Physician Apr 2021Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) analysis is a diagnostic tool for many conditions affecting the central nervous system. Urgent indications for lumbar puncture include... (Review)
Review
Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) analysis is a diagnostic tool for many conditions affecting the central nervous system. Urgent indications for lumbar puncture include suspected central nervous system infection or subarachnoid hemorrhage. CSF analysis is not necessarily diagnostic but can be useful in the evaluation of other neurologic conditions, such as spontaneous intracranial hypotension, idiopathic intracranial hypertension, multiple sclerosis, Guillain-Barré syndrome, and malignancy. Bacterial meningitis has a high mortality rate and characteristic effects on CSF white blood cell counts, CSF protein levels, and the CSF:serum glucose ratio. CSF culture can identify causative organisms and antibiotic sensitivities. Viral meningitis can present similarly to bacterial meningitis but usually has a low mortality rate. Adjunctive tests such as CSF lactate measurement, latex agglutination, and polymerase chain reaction testing can help differentiate between bacterial and viral causes of meningitis. Immunocompromised patients may have meningitis caused by tuberculosis, neurosyphilis, or fungal or parasitic infections. Subarachnoid hemorrhage has a high mortality rate, and rapid diagnosis is key to improve outcomes. Computed tomography of the head is nearly 100% sensitive for subarachnoid hemorrhage in the first six hours after symptom onset, but CSF analysis may be required if there is a delay in presentation or if imaging findings are equivocal. Xanthochromia and an elevated red blood cell count are characteristic CSF findings in patients with subarachnoid hemorrhage. Leptomeningeal carcinomatosis can mimic central nervous system infection. It has a poor prognosis, and large-volume CSF cytology is diagnostic.
Topics: Central Nervous System Bacterial Infections; Central Nervous System Fungal Infections; Central Nervous System Infections; Central Nervous System Parasitic Infections; Central Nervous System Viral Diseases; Cerebrospinal Fluid; Cerebrospinal Fluid Proteins; Culture Techniques; Eosinophils; Glucose; Humans; Leukocytes; Lymphocytes; Meningeal Carcinomatosis; Meningitis, Cryptococcal; Neurosyphilis; Neutrophils; Polymerase Chain Reaction; Reference Values; Spinal Puncture; Subarachnoid Hemorrhage; Tuberculosis, Central Nervous System
PubMed: 33788511
DOI: No ID Found -
Journal of Clinical Oncology : Official... Nov 2022Photon involved-field radiotherapy (IFRT) is the standard-of-care radiotherapy for patients with leptomeningeal metastasis (LM) from solid tumors. We tested whether... (Randomized Controlled Trial)
Randomized Controlled Trial
PURPOSE
Photon involved-field radiotherapy (IFRT) is the standard-of-care radiotherapy for patients with leptomeningeal metastasis (LM) from solid tumors. We tested whether proton craniospinal irradiation (pCSI) encompassing the entire CNS would result in superior CNS progression-free survival (PFS) compared with IFRT.
PATIENTS AND METHODS
We conducted a randomized, phase II trial of pCSI versus IFRT in patients with non-small-cell lung cancer and breast cancers with LM. We enrolled patients with other solid tumors to an exploratory pCSI group. For the randomized groups, patients were assigned (2:1), stratified by histology and systemic disease status, to pCSI or IFRT. The primary end point was CNS PFS. Secondary end points included overall survival (OS) and treatment-related adverse events (TAEs).
RESULTS
Between April 16, 2020, and October 11, 2021, 42 and 21 patients were randomly assigned to pCSI and IFRT, respectively. At planned interim analysis, a significant benefit in CNS PFS was observed with pCSI (median 7.5 months; 95% CI, 6.6 months to not reached) compared with IFRT (2.3 months; 95% CI, 1.2 to 5.8 months; < .001). We also observed OS benefit with pCSI (9.9 months; 95% CI, 7.5 months to not reached) versus IFRT (6.0 months; 95% CI, 3.9 months to not reached; = .029). There was no difference in the rate of grade 3 and 4 TAEs ( = .19). In the exploratory pCSI group, 35 patients enrolled, the median CNS PFS was 5.8 months (95% CI, 4.4 to 9.1 months) and OS was 6.6 months (95% CI, 5.4 to 11 months).
CONCLUSION
Compared with photon IFRT, we found pCSI improved CNS PFS and OS for patients with non-small-cell lung cancer and breast cancer with LM with no increase in serious TAEs.
Topics: Humans; Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung; Protons; Craniospinal Irradiation; Lung Neoplasms; Proton Therapy; Meningeal Carcinomatosis; Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols
PubMed: 35802849
DOI: 10.1200/JCO.22.01148 -
Journal of Clinical Oncology : Official... Feb 2020In this phase I study (BLOOM), osimertinib, a third-generation epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI), was evaluated in patients with...
PURPOSE
In this phase I study (BLOOM), osimertinib, a third-generation epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI), was evaluated in patients with leptomeningeal metastases (LMs) from EGFR-mutated (EGFRm) advanced non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) whose disease had progressed on previous EGFR-TKI therapy.
PATIENTS AND METHODS
Patients with cytologically confirmed LM received osimertinib 160 mg once daily. Objectives were to assess confirmed objective response rate (ORR), duration of response (DoR), progression-free survival (PFS), overall survival (OS), pharmacokinetics (PK), and safety. Additional efficacy evaluations included changes from baseline in CSF cytology and neurologic examination. Measurable lesions were assessed by investigator according to RECIST version 1.1. LMs were assessed by neuroradiologic blinded central independent review (BICR) according to Response Assessment in Neuro-Oncology LM radiologic criteria and by investigator.
RESULTS
Forty-one patients were enrolled. LM ORR and DoR by neuroradiologic BICR were 62% (95% CI, 45% to 78%) and 15.2 months (95% CI, 7.5 to 17.5 months), respectively. Overall, ORR by investigator was 41% (95% CI, 26% to 58%), and median DoR was 8.3 months (95% CI, 5.6 to 16.5 months). Median investigator-assessed PFS was 8.6 months (95% CI, 5.4 to 13.7 months) with 78% maturity; median OS was 11.0 months (95% CI, 8.0 to 18.0 months) with 68% maturity. CSF tumor cell clearance was confirmed in 11 (28%; 95% CI, 15% to 44%) of 40 patients. Neurologic function was improved in 12 (57%) of 21 patients with an abnormal assessment at baseline. The adverse event and PK profiles were consistent with previous reports for osimertinib.
CONCLUSION
Osimertinib showed meaningful therapeutic efficacy in the CNS and a manageable safety profile at 160 mg once daily in patients with EGFRm NSCLC and LM.
Topics: Acrylamides; Adult; Aged; Aniline Compounds; Antineoplastic Agents; Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung; ErbB Receptors; Female; Humans; Lung Neoplasms; Male; Meningeal Carcinomatosis; Middle Aged; Mutation
PubMed: 31809241
DOI: 10.1200/JCO.19.00457 -
Current Oncology (Toronto, Ont.) Jun 2023The present review aimed to establish an understanding of the pathophysiology of leptomeningeal disease as it relates to late-stage development among different cancer... (Review)
Review
The present review aimed to establish an understanding of the pathophysiology of leptomeningeal disease as it relates to late-stage development among different cancer types. For our purposes, the focused metastatic malignancies include breast cancer, lung cancer, melanoma, primary central nervous system tumors, and hematologic cancers (lymphoma, leukemia, and multiple myeloma). Of note, our discussion was limited to cancer-specific leptomeningeal metastases secondary to the aforementioned primary cancers. LMD mechanisms secondary to non-cancerous pathologies, such as infection or inflammation of the leptomeningeal layer, were excluded from our scope of review. Furthermore, we intended to characterize general leptomeningeal disease, including the specific anatomical infiltration process/area, CSF dissemination, manifesting clinical symptoms in patients afflicted with the disease, detection mechanisms, imaging modalities, and treatment therapies (both preclinical and clinical). Of these parameters, leptomeningeal disease across different primary cancers shares several features. Pathophysiology regarding the development of CNS involvement within the mentioned cancer subtypes is similar in nature and progression of disease. Consequently, detection of leptomeningeal disease, regardless of cancer type, employs several of the same techniques. Cerebrospinal fluid analysis in combination with varied imaging (CT, MRI, and PET-CT) has been noted in the current literature as the gold standard in the diagnosis of leptomeningeal metastasis. Treatment options for the disease are both varied and currently in development, given the rarity of these cases. Our review details the differences in leptomeningeal disease as they pertain through the lens of several different cancer subtypes in an effort to highlight the current state of targeted therapy, the potential shortcomings in treatment, and the direction of preclinical and clinical treatments in the future. As there is a lack of comprehensive reviews that seek to characterize leptomeningeal metastasis from various solid and hematologic cancers altogether, the authors intended to highlight not only the overlapping mechanisms but also the distinct patterning of disease detection and progression as a means to uniquely treat each metastasis type. The scarcity of LMD cases poses a barrier to more robust evaluations of this pathology. However, as treatments for primary cancers have improved over time, so has the incidence of LMD. The increase in diagnosed cases only represents a small fraction of LMD-afflicted patients. More often than not, LMD is determined upon autopsy. The motivation behind this review stems from the increased capacity to study LMD in spite of scarcity or poor patient prognosis. In vitro analysis of leptomeningeal cancer cells has allowed researchers to approach this disease at the level of cancer subtypes and markers. We ultimately hope to facilitate the clinical translation of LMD research through our discourse.
Topics: Humans; Female; Positron Emission Tomography Computed Tomography; Meningeal Carcinomatosis; Breast Neoplasms; Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Hematologic Neoplasms
PubMed: 37366925
DOI: 10.3390/curroncol30060442 -
Neuro-oncology Practice Mar 2014Neuro-oncologists are familiar with primary brain tumors, intracerebral metastases meningeal carcinomatosis and extracerebral intracranial tumors as meningeoma. For... (Review)
Review
BACKGROUND
Neuro-oncologists are familiar with primary brain tumors, intracerebral metastases meningeal carcinomatosis and extracerebral intracranial tumors as meningeoma. For these conditions, and also some other rare tumor entities several treatment options exist. Cancer can also involve structures around the brain as the dura, the base of the skull, the cavities of the skull and tissue around the bony skull, the skin, the tissue of the neck. and either compress, invade or spread in the central or peripheral nervous system.
METHODS
A systematic literature research was conducted determining symptoms and signs, tumor sites of nerve invasion, tumor types, diagnostic techniques, mechanisms of nerve invasion, and important differential diagnosis. Additional cases from own experience were added for illustration.
RESULTS
The mechanisms of tumor invasion of cranial nerves is heterogenous and not only involves several types of invasion, but also spread along the cranial nerves in antero- and retrograde fashion and even spread into different nerve territories via anastomosis. In addition the concept of angiosomas may have an influence on the spread of metastases.
CONCLUSION
In addition to the well described tumor spread in meningeal carcinomatosis and base of the skull metastases, dural spread, lesions of the bony skull, the cavities of the skull and skin of the face and tissue of the neck region need to be considered, and have an impact on therapeutic decisions.
PubMed: 26034610
DOI: 10.1093/nop/npt002 -
The Western Journal of Medicine Mar 1991
Topics: Animals; Humans; Meningeal Neoplasms
PubMed: 2028611
DOI: No ID Found -
Journal of Thoracic Oncology : Official... Jun 2020
Topics: Acrylamides; Amphiregulin; Aniline Compounds; Carbazoles; Humans; Lung Neoplasms; Meningeal Carcinomatosis; Piperidines; Receptor Protein-Tyrosine Kinases
PubMed: 32471570
DOI: 10.1016/j.jtho.2020.03.010 -
Clinical and Translational Medicine Jun 2022Leptomeningeal metastases (LM) occur in patients with breast cancer (BC) and lung cancer (LC) showing exceptionally poor prognosis. The cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) tumour...
Leptomeningeal metastases (LM) occur in patients with breast cancer (BC) and lung cancer (LC) showing exceptionally poor prognosis. The cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) tumour microenvironment (TME) of LM patients is not well defined at a single-cell level. Based on the 10× genomics single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) data from GEO database including five patient-derived CSF samples of BC-LM and LC-LM, and four patient-derived CSF samples of idiopathic intracranial hypertension (IIH) as controls, we analysed single-cell transcriptome characteristics of CSF TME in LM patients compared to controls simultaneously and comprehensively. In addition, we performed 10× genomics scRNA-seq on CSF cells derived from a BC-LM patient to help generate a solid conclusion. The CSF macrophages in LM patients showing M2-subtype signature and the emergence of regulatory T cells in LM confirmed the direction of tumour immunity toward immunosuppression. Then, the characteristics of CSF circulating tumour cells (CTCs) of breast cancer LM (BC-LM) patients were classified into five molecular subtypes by PAM50 model. The communication between macrophages and five subtype-specific CSF-CTCs showed largest number of ligand-receptor interactions. The five subtypes-specific CSF-CTCs showed great heterogeneities which were manifested in cell proliferation and cancer-testis antigens expression. Gene regulatory networks (GRNs) analysis revealed that transcription factor SREBF2 was universally activated in the five subtypes-specific CSF-CTCs. Our results will provide inspiration on new directions of the mechanism research, diagnosis and therapy of LM.
Topics: Breast Neoplasms; Genomics; Humans; Lung Neoplasms; Male; Meningeal Carcinomatosis; Sequence Analysis, RNA; Tumor Microenvironment
PubMed: 35678121
DOI: 10.1002/ctm2.885 -
Canadian Medical Association Journal Feb 1963Meningeal carcinomatosis without gross tumour in the substance of the brain or spinal cord has been reported rarely. Two cases observed at the Victoria General Hospital,...
Meningeal carcinomatosis without gross tumour in the substance of the brain or spinal cord has been reported rarely. Two cases observed at the Victoria General Hospital, Halifax, presented a bizarre clinical picture consisting of signs of meningeal irritation without fever, and psychotic behaviour. Examination of the cerebrospinal fluid revealed low sugar concentration and increased pressure, protein and cells. In one case these cells were readily identified as malignant on stained smears. At autopsy the surfaces of the cerebral hemispheres, cerebellum and brain stem were covered by an opalescent film and on section the subarachnoid space was densely packed with malignant cells. Both primary tumours were adenocarcinomas, one originating in the gallbladder and one in the rectum. The diagnosis of meningeal carcinomatosis must be considered in patients presenting with profound mental changes and meningeal irritation without fever. Diagnosis may be confirmed by cytological examination of the cerebrospinal fluid. The primary tumour is most commonly an adenocarcinoma. There is no satisfactory treatment available.
Topics: Adenocarcinoma; Gallbladder Neoplasms; Humans; Meningeal Carcinomatosis; Meninges; Mental Disorders; Neoplasm Metastasis; Neoplasms; Rectal Neoplasms; Victoria
PubMed: 13953212
DOI: No ID Found -
Nature Communications Oct 2021Leptomeningeal disease (LMD) is a devastating complication of solid tumor malignancies, with dire prognosis and no effective systemic treatment options. Over the past...
Leptomeningeal disease (LMD) is a devastating complication of solid tumor malignancies, with dire prognosis and no effective systemic treatment options. Over the past decade, the incidence of LMD has steadily increased due to therapeutics that have extended the survival of cancer patients, highlighting the need for new interventions. To examine the efficacy of immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICI) in patients with LMD, we completed two phase II clinical trials. Here, we investigate the cellular and molecular features underpinning observed patient trajectories in these trials by applying single-cell RNA and cell-free DNA profiling to longitudinal cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) draws from enrolled patients. We recover immune and malignant cell types in the CSF, characterize cell behavior changes following ICI, and identify genomic features associated with relevant clinical phenomena. Overall, our study describes the liquid LMD tumor microenvironment prior to and following ICI treatment and demonstrates clinical utility of cell-free and single-cell genomic measurements for LMD research.
Topics: Adult; Aged; Antibodies, Monoclonal, Humanized; Brain Neoplasms; CD8-Positive T-Lymphocytes; CTLA-4 Antigen; Cell-Free Nucleic Acids; Female; Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic; Humans; Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors; Immunotherapy; Interferon-gamma; Ipilimumab; Male; Meningeal Carcinomatosis; Meningeal Neoplasms; Middle Aged; Nivolumab; Programmed Cell Death 1 Receptor; Single-Cell Analysis; Survival Analysis; Tumor Microenvironment
PubMed: 34642316
DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-25860-5