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Brain Sciences Oct 2023Optic pathway glioma (OPG) is one of the causes of pediatric visual impairment. Unfortunately, there is as yet no cure for such a disease. Understanding the underlying... (Review)
Review
Optic pathway glioma (OPG) is one of the causes of pediatric visual impairment. Unfortunately, there is as yet no cure for such a disease. Understanding the underlying mechanisms and the potential therapeutic strategies may help to delay the progression of OPG and rescue the visual morbidities. Here, we provide an overview of preclinical OPG studies and the regulatory pathways controlling OPG pathophysiology. We next discuss the role of microenvironmental cells (neurons, T cells, and tumor-associated microglia and macrophages) in OPG development. Last, we provide insight into potential therapeutic strategies for treating OPG and promoting axon regeneration.
PubMed: 37891793
DOI: 10.3390/brainsci13101424 -
Neurology India 2021The prevalence of hydrocephalus among patients with neurofibromatosis type I (NF1) is estimated to be between 1 and 13%. Aqueductal webs, chiasmatic-hypothalamic tumors,... (Review)
Review
The prevalence of hydrocephalus among patients with neurofibromatosis type I (NF1) is estimated to be between 1 and 13%. Aqueductal webs, chiasmatic-hypothalamic tumors, and thalamic mass effect related to NF changes are the common causes of NF1-related hydrocephalus. Brain tumors and moyamoya syndrome may mimic the clinical presentation of hydrocephalus in children with NF1, and should be ruled out while evaluating children with headaches. Treatment of NF1-related hydrocephalus should be personally tailored, including shunts, endoscopic procedures such as septostomy and third ventriculostomy, and tumor resection or debulking. Despite these personalized treatments, many of the primary treatments (including shunts and endoscopic procedures) fail, and patients should be screened and followed accordingly. In the current manuscript, we review the causes of NF1-related hydrocephalus, as well as treatment options.
Topics: Brain Neoplasms; Cerebral Aqueduct; Child; Humans; Hydrocephalus; Neurofibromatosis 1; Ventriculostomy
PubMed: 35102991
DOI: 10.4103/0028-3886.332254 -
Frontiers in Surgery 2022Hemorrhage into optic pathway-hypothalamic glioma (OPHG) is rare. Variable clinical presentations and outcomes are associated with such pathology. We aim to present two... (Review)
Review
BACKGROUND
Hemorrhage into optic pathway-hypothalamic glioma (OPHG) is rare. Variable clinical presentations and outcomes are associated with such pathology. We aim to present two infants presented with OPHG and a systematic review of the literature.
METHODS
We describe two cases of infants presenting with sudden decreased vision, poor feeding, and irritability due to OPHG. Both patients underwent urgent craniotomy and subtotal resection followed by chemotherapy. We systematically reviewed the literature using PubMed, Google Scholar, and Embase. In addition, we included all English published reports for all ages discussing the optic pathway (optic nerve and optic chiasm) or hypothalamic glioma associated with hemorrhage from the year of the first reported case (1970) to January 2022.
RESULTS
Of 17,949, 44 articles met the inclusion criteria of this review. A total of 56 cases were described with a mean of 21.35 years (0.5-70), with the male gender 52% and the female gender 45%. The hemorrhage location was sellar/suprasellar in 43% cases. Histopathology of included cases was pilocytic astrocytoma in 41%, followed by pilomyxoid astrocytoma in 16% cases. The outcome was unfavorable; 37.5% cases showed improvement, whereas 18% cases resulted in death.
CONCLUSION
Apoplexy of the OPHG can be fatal and associated with poor outcomes. A systematic review of the literature has shown that younger age, pilocytic or pilomexyoid astrocytoma histopathology, and chiasmal/hypothalamic locations are associated with a higher risk of intertumoral hemorrhage and poor prognosis. Further genetic studies for OPHG may provide information for high-risk patients.
PubMed: 35733436
DOI: 10.3389/fsurg.2022.891556 -
Neurologia Medico-chirurgica Jan 2018Optic pathway/hypothalamic gliomas (OP/HGs) are rare astrocytic tumors that appear more commonly among young children and often are unresectable. They comprise... (Review)
Review
Optic pathway/hypothalamic gliomas (OP/HGs) are rare astrocytic tumors that appear more commonly among young children and often are unresectable. They comprise approximately 2% of all central nervous system tumors and account for 3-5% of pediatric intracranial tumors. Initial manifestations are often visual disturbances, endocrinopathies and hypothalamic dysfunction such as the diencephalic syndrome, and sometimes hydrocephalus due to cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) outflow obstruction. In many cases, the tumors are diagnosed late in the clinical course because they silently enlarge. These tumors consist mostly of histologically benign, World Health Organization (WHO) grade I tumors represented by pilocytic astrocytomas (PA), the rest being pilomyxoid astrocytomas (PXA) - WHO grade II tumors. In young pediatric patients, however, can be seen PXA that show aggressive clinical course such as CSF dissemination. Our small series of 14 non-Neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF-1) OP/HGs PA patients underwent extended resection without any adjuvant treatments. The median age at initial treatment was 11.5 ± 6.90 years (range, 1-25 years) and median follow up 85.5 ± 25.0 months. Surgical resection for OP/HGs results in acceptable middle-term survival, tumor control and functional outcome equivalent to chemotherapy. There is, however, no longer doubt that chemotherapy with or without biopsy and as-needed debulking surgery remains the golden standard in management of OP/H. Clinical conditions and treatment plans for OP/HGs vary depending on their structure of origin.
Topics: Adolescent; Brain Neoplasms; Child; Child, Preschool; Female; Glioma; Humans; Hypothalamus; Infant; Male; Optic Chiasm; Optic Tract; Young Adult
PubMed: 29118304
DOI: 10.2176/nmc.ra.2017-0081 -
Orphanet Journal of Rare Diseases Feb 2017Non-optic gliomas occur in 5% of children with NF1, but little is known about these tumours in adults. We aimed to investigate progression, spontaneous regression and...
BACKGROUND
Non-optic gliomas occur in 5% of children with NF1, but little is known about these tumours in adults. We aimed to investigate progression, spontaneous regression and the natural history of non-optic gliomas in adults and compare these findings to the results found in children.
RESULTS
One thousand seven hundred twenty-two brain MRI scans of 562 unselected individuals with NF1 were collected at the NF outpatient department of the University Hospital Hamburg-Eppendorf between 2003 and 2015. The number of scans per patient ranged from one to 12; patients were followed for a median of 3.7 years. We identified 24 patients (4.3%) with non-optic gliomas. Median age at first scan with glioma was 21.2 years, much higher than in previous publications. Only seven of the 24 non-optic glioma patients were symptomatic. Five of 24 patients had multiple non-optic gliomas. Four individuals developed a new tumour, and 4 cases showed progression. The risk of new tumour development was 0.19% (95% confidence interval 0.06% to 0.52%) per patient year of follow-up for patients over 10 years. The rate of progressing non-optic gliomas per patient year of follow-up in the first 5 years after tumour diagnosis was 4.7% (95% confidence interval 1.5% to 12%).
CONCLUSIONS
Non-optic gliomas are twice as common in an unselected cohort of NF1 patients as previously reported. This is likely due to increased frequency of diagnosis of asymptomatic tumours when routine MRIs are performed and a higher prevalence in older individuals.
Topics: Adolescent; Adult; Central Nervous System Neoplasms; Child; Female; Glioma; Humans; Male; Middle Aged; Neurofibromatoses; Young Adult
PubMed: 28202035
DOI: 10.1186/s13023-017-0588-2 -
Neuro-oncology Jan 2021The aim of the project was to identify risk factors associated with visual progression and treatment indications in pediatric patients with neurofibromatosis type 1...
BACKGROUND
The aim of the project was to identify risk factors associated with visual progression and treatment indications in pediatric patients with neurofibromatosis type 1 associated optic pathway glioma (NF1-OPG).
METHODS
A multidisciplinary expert group consisting of ophthalmologists, pediatric neuro-oncologists, neurofibromatosis specialists, and neuro-radiologists involved in therapy trials assembled a cohort of children with NF1-OPG from 6 European countries with complete clinical, imaging, and visual outcome datasets. Using methods developed during a consensus workshop, visual and imaging data were reviewed by the expert team and analyzed to identify associations between factors at diagnosis with visual and imaging outcomes.
RESULTS
Eighty-three patients (37 males, 46 females, mean age 5.1 ± 2.6 y; 1-13.1 y) registered in the European treatment trial SIOP LGG-2004 (recruited 2004-2012) were included. They were either observed or treated (at diagnosis/after follow-up).In multivariable analysis, factors present at diagnosis associated with adverse visual outcomes included: multiple visual signs and symptoms (adjusted odds ratio [adjOR]: 8.33; 95% CI: 1.9-36.45), abnormal visual behavior (adjOR: 4.15; 95% CI: 1.20-14.34), new onset of visual symptoms (adjOR: 4.04; 95% CI: 1.26-12.95), and optic atrophy (adjOR: 3.73; 95% CI: 1.13-12.53). Squint, posterior visual pathway tumor involvement, and bilateral pathway tumor involvement showed borderline significance. Treatment appeared to reduce tumor size but improved vision in only 10/45 treated patients. Children with visual deterioration after primary observation are more likely to improve with treatment than children treated at diagnosis.
CONCLUSIONS
The analysis identified the importance of symptomatology, optic atrophy, and history of vision loss as predictive factors for poor visual outcomes in children with NF1-OPG.
Topics: Child; Child, Preschool; Cohort Studies; Europe; Female; Humans; Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Male; Neurofibromatosis 1; Optic Nerve Glioma; Risk Factors
PubMed: 32628746
DOI: 10.1093/neuonc/noaa153 -
Frontiers in Surgery 2022
PubMed: 35990103
DOI: 10.3389/fsurg.2022.995404 -
Frontiers in Oncology 2023Diencephalic tumors tend to be low grade tumors located near several critical structures, including the optic nerves, optic chiasm, pituitary, hypothalamus, Circle of... (Review)
Review
Diencephalic tumors tend to be low grade tumors located near several critical structures, including the optic nerves, optic chiasm, pituitary, hypothalamus, Circle of Willis, and hippocampi. In children, damage to these structures can impact physical and cognitive development over time. Thus, the goal of radiotherapy is to maximize long term survival while minimizing late effects, including endocrine disruption leading to precocious puberty, height loss, hypogonadotropic hypogonadism, and primary amenorrhea; visual disruption including blindness; and vascular damage resulting in cerebral vasculopathy. Compared to photon therapy, proton therapy offers the potential to decrease unnecessary dose to these critical structures while maintaining adequate dose to the tumor. In this article, we review the acute and chronic toxicities associated with radiation for pediatric diencephalic tumors, focusing on the use of proton therapy to minimize treatment-related morbidity. Emerging strategies to further reduce radiation dose to critical structures will also be considered.
PubMed: 37213290
DOI: 10.3389/fonc.2023.1123082 -
Neuro-oncology Aug 2023People with NF1 have an increased prevalence of central nervous system malignancy. However, little is known about the clinical course or pathologic features of...
BACKGROUND
People with NF1 have an increased prevalence of central nervous system malignancy. However, little is known about the clinical course or pathologic features of NF1-associated gliomas in adults, limiting clinical care and research.
METHODS
Adults (≥18 years) with NF1 and histologically confirmed non-optic pathway gliomas (non-OPGs) at Johns Hopkins Hospital, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, and Washington University presenting between 1990 and 2020 were identified. Retrospective data were collated, and pathology was reviewed centrally.
RESULTS
Forty-five patients, comprising 23 females (51%), met eligibility criteria, with a median of age 37 (18-68 years) and performance status of 80% (30%-100%). Tissue was available for 35 patients. Diagnoses included infiltrating (low-grade) astrocytoma (9), glioblastoma (7), high-grade astrocytoma with piloid features (4), pilocytic astrocytoma (4), high-grade astrocytoma (3), WHO diagnosis not reached (4) and one each of gliosarcoma, ganglioglioma, embryonal tumor, and diffuse midline glioma. Seventy-one percent of tumors were midline and underwent biopsy only. All 27 tumors evaluated were IDH1-wild-type, independent of histology. In the 10 cases with molecular testing, the most common genetic variants were NF1, EGFR, ATRX, CDKN2A/B, TP53, TERT, and MSH2/3 mutation. While the treatments provided varied, the median overall survival was 24 months [2-267 months] across all ages, and 38.5 [18-109] months in individuals with grade 1-2 gliomas.
CONCLUSIONS
Non-OPGs in adults with NF1, including low-grade tumors, often have an aggressive clinical course, indicating a need to better understand the pathobiology of these NF1-associated gliomas.
Topics: Female; Humans; Adult; Neurofibromatosis 1; Retrospective Studies; Glioma; Astrocytoma; Brain Neoplasms; Disease Progression
PubMed: 36840626
DOI: 10.1093/neuonc/noad033 -
Frontiers in Oncology 2022The glioma-associated tumor microenvironment involves a multitude of different cells ranging from immune cells to endothelial, glial, and neuronal cells surrounding the... (Review)
Review
The glioma-associated tumor microenvironment involves a multitude of different cells ranging from immune cells to endothelial, glial, and neuronal cells surrounding the primary tumor. The interactions between these cells and glioblastoma (GBM) have been deeply investigated while very little data are available on patients with lower-grade gliomas. In these tumors, it has been demonstrated that the composition of the microenvironment differs according to the isocitrate dehydrogenase status (mutated/wild type), the presence/absence of codeletion, and the expression of specific alterations including H3K27 and/or other gene mutations. In addition, mechanisms by which the tumor microenvironment sustains the growth and proliferation of glioma cells are still partially unknown. Nonetheless, a better knowledge of the tumor-associated microenvironment can be a key issue in the optic of novel therapeutic drug development.
PubMed: 35875065
DOI: 10.3389/fonc.2022.891543