Under what circumstances, is it ethical to perform tumor surgery on a brain-dead individual? The neurosurgeons at Brigham and Women's Hospital were recently faced with such a question when asked to operate on a 28-year-old man who was pronounced brain-dead secondary to a severe brain-stem injury. His advanced directives clearly documented a desire for organ donation. During his transplant work-up, cranial imaging suggested a possible cerebellar mass of unknown etiology that was concerning for metastatic disease.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe emerging field of cancer neuroscience reshapes our understanding of the intricate relationship between the nervous system and cancer biology; this new paradigm is likely to fundamentally change and advance neuro-oncological care. The profound interplay between cancers and the nervous system is reciprocal: Cancer growth can be induced and regulated by the nervous system; conversely, tumors can themselves alter the nervous system. Such crosstalk between cancer cells and the nervous system is evident in both the peripheral and central nervous systems.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntrinsic, expansile pontine tumors typically occur in the pediatric population. These tumors characteristically present as diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma (DIPG), which is now considered as diffuse midline glioma (DMG), H3K27-mutated of the pons. DIPG has limited treatment options and a poor prognosis, and the value of tissue diagnosis from an invasive biopsy remains controversial.
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