Current status of immunotherapy and gene therapy for high-grade gliomas.

Background: Despite improvements in surgical technique, radiation therapy delivery, and options for systemic cytotoxic therapy, the median survival for patients with newly diagnosed glioblastoma multiforme remains poor at 15 months with trimodality therapy. Multiple immunologic approaches are being tested to enhance the response of these tumors to existing therapy and/or to stimulate innate immune responses.

Methods: We review the existing data that support the continued development of immunologic therapy in the treatment armamentarium against glioblastoma multiforme, with a focus on clinical data documenting outcomes.

Biopsy-proven mantle cell lymphoma in brain parenchyma.

Brain parenchymal involvement by mantle cell lymphoma is rare and confers a grim prognosis. More commonly, patients with central nervous system manifestations of mantle cell lymphoma have leptomeningeal involvement on radiographic studies with malignant cells found in the cerebrospinal fluid. Risk factors for central nervous system involvement include a high proliferation index, bone marrow involvement, and blastoid morphology.