MEDICAL BREAKTHROUGHS
RESEARCH SUMMARY
TOPIC: ROADMAP FOR THE BRAIN
REPORT: MB #3016
BACKGROUND: About 22,000 people are diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor each year, according to the American Brain Tumor Association. Although the very term "brain tumor" is scary to most, the American Cancer Society reports deaths caused by malignant brain tumors decreased by over 14 percent between 1991 and 2004. Researchers are still trying to identify risk factors linked to brain tumors. The only risk factor consistently associated with increased risk for brain tumors is exposure to ionizing radiation.
TREATMENT: Most adult brain tumors are diagnosed and removed through surgery. Initial surgery to diagnose a brain tumor is called a biopsy, and it's done by removing part of the skull and using a needle to remove tissue from the tumor. If cancer cells are identified in the tissue sample, surgery is usually the next step. Patients are usually given chemotherapy or radiation therapy following surgery to kill any remaining cancer cells.
RISKS: Despite advances in medicine, the brain will always be a risky place to operate. Risks of brain surgery include problems with speech, memory, muscle weakness, balance, vision and coordination; blood clots or bleeding in the brain; seizures; stroke; coma; infection; and brain swelling, or edema. One of the obstacles neurosurgeons deal with in brain surgery is avoiding blood vessels, which becomes more difficult in larger tumors. "If you don't know where the blood vessels are, you're in danger of damaging one," John Tew, M.D., Professor of Neurosurgery at the University of Cincinnati Neuroscience Institute in Cincinnati, Ohio, told Ivanhoe. "In this critical area, you could cause a complete paralysis, or certainly a major paralysis on the opposite side."
MAPPING THE BRAIN: To more carefully maneuver around vessels and other critical components of the brain, scientists and doctors have developed and adapted imaging technologies to create "maps" to prepare them for and guide them through surgery. Doctors at the University of Cincinnati recently combined images from magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), functional MRI (fMRI), diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) and computed tomography angiography (CTA) to create a 3D image of a patient's brain. They entered the 3D image into a surgical guidance computer, which surgeons could then use as a "GPS" to map out a safe route to the tumor. The image enabled the surgeons to see the tumor's relationship to the brain's functional centers, electrical pathways, arteries and veins to avoid damaging them.
FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT:
UC Neuroscience Institute
Cincinnati, OH
1-866-941-UCNI (8264)
