Impact of Fractionation Regimen on Local Control Following Frameless Linear Accelerator-Based Image-Guided Stereotactic Radiosurgery and Radiotherapy for Intracranial Meningioma.

Objective: Stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) is an established treatment for intracranial meningioma, yet this approach is often precluded by tumor size or proximity to critical structures. Fractionated radiotherapy (RT) may be employed to address these limitations. We performed a comparison of local control (LC) outcomes between 3 stereotactic techniques.

Experience Using the Pterional Keyhole Approach for the Treatment of Ruptured Intracranial Aneurysms of the Anterior Circulation.

Background: The pterional keyhole approach is a more recently introduced minimally invasive version of the traditional pterional approach for treating aneurysms of the anterior circulation.

Methods: In this study, we compared operative parameters and clinical outcomes in patients treated with the pterional keyhole approach and historical controls in whom the traditional pterional approach was used. We reviewer records of 356 patients treated with the pterional keyhole approach between 2009 and 2016, along with those of 301 patients treated via the traditional pterional approach at the same period who served as a control group.

Simultaneous cerebrospinal fluid and hematologic metastases in a high-grade ependymoma.

Background: Ependymomas are relatively uncommon tumors that constitute about 7% of all primary intracranial neoplasms. Among these, high-grade ependymomas are locally aggressive and recur most commonly at the primary site following resection. Ependymomas are also known to be the one glial neoplasm that tends to frequently metastasize inside and outside the central nervous system (CNS) that complicates workup and management.

Surgical nuances of partial sacrectomy for chordoma.

Background: Sacral chordomas are rare, slow growing, locally aggressive tumors. Unfortunately, aggressive surgical resection is often associated with increased neurological morbidity.

Methods: This technical note focuses on the utilization of partial sacrectomy for the resection of complex spinal chordomas.

Adult sacrococcygeal teratoma with coccygectomy: A case report with a review of the literature.

Background: Saccrococcygeal teratomas (SCT) are derived from embryonic germ cell layers. They frequently present at the base of the coccyx within the pelvis. While these tumors are common in children, they are exceedingly rare in adults.

Surgical nuances of circumferential lumbar spondylectomy: A case report and short literature review.

Background: Chordomas are uncommon malignant bone tumors that are often minimally symptomatic for several years. By the time they are diagnosed, these lesions are typically large, involve major neural, bony, and vascular structures, and are no longer readily resectable. This leads to a high recurrence rate.

Efficacy of systemic adoptive transfer immunotherapy targeting NY-ESO-1 for glioblastoma.

Background: Immunotherapy is an ideal treatment modality to specifically target the diffusely infiltrative tumor cells of malignant gliomas while sparing the normal brain parenchyma. However, progress in the development of these therapies for glioblastoma has been slow due to the lack of immunogenic antigen targets that are expressed uniformly and selectively by gliomas.

Methods: We utilized human glioblastoma cell cultures to induce expression of New York-esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (NY-ESO-1) following in vitro treatment with the demethylating agent decitabine.

Cytokine responsiveness of CD8(+) T cells is a reproducible biomarker for the clinical efficacy of dendritic cell vaccination in glioblastoma patients.

Background: Immunotherapeutic approaches, such as dendritic cell (DC) vaccination, have emerged as promising strategies in the treatment of glioblastoma. Despite their promise, however, the absence of objective biomarkers and/or immunological monitoring techniques to assess the clinical efficacy of immunotherapy still remains a primary limitation. To address this, we sought to identify a functional biomarker for anti-tumor immune responsiveness associated with extended survival in glioblastoma patients undergoing DC vaccination.