Incidence of pseudoprogression in low-grade gliomas treated with radiotherapy.

Background: As the incidence of pseudo-progressive disease (psPD), or pseudoprogression, in low-grade glioma (LGG) is unknown, we retrospectively investigated this phenomenon in a cohort of LGG patients given radiotherapy (RT).

Methods: All MRI scans and clinical data from patients with histologically proven LGG treated with radiation between 2000 and 2011 were reviewed. PsPD was scored when a new enhancing lesion occurred after RT and subsequently disappeared or remained stable for at least a year without therapy, including dexamethasone.

CSF levels of growth factors and plasminogen activators in leptomeningeal metastases.

Objective: To investigate the diagnostic value of transforming growth factor beta(1) (TGFbeta(1)), vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), urokinase-type plasminogen activator (uPA), and tissue-type plasminogen activator (tPA) in CSF for leptomeningeal metastasis (LM).

Methods: The authors measured concentrations of biomarkers by ELISA in matched samples of CSF and serum, collected from 132 patients with a solid malignancy with LM (n = 19) and without LM (n = 54) and patients with viral (n = 16) and bacterial (n = 16) meningitis and a variety of nonmalignant, noninfectious neurologic disorders (n = 27). Indexes of the biomarkers (CSF/serum value relative to CSF/serum albumin ratios) were calculated to correct for the serum contribution to the CSF marker concentration.