Journal
ONCOLOGY
Volume 79, Issue 3-4, Pages 306-312Publisher
KARGER
DOI: 10.1159/000323492
Keywords
Multifocal glioma; Glioblastoma; Chemotherapy; Radiotherapy
Categories
Ask authors/readers for more resources
Patients who present with multiple cerebral tumors are usually considered as having metastatic disease. If they have a history of a primary cancer in another site, the brain tumors are considered metastases and are usually managed with standard whole-brain radiotherapy. If no primary cancer site is known, a diagnostic work-up is performed, but if no primary site is found, they are still considered as brain metastases from an unknown primary site. Thus, such patients can either have brain biopsy (recommended) for further diagnostic consideration or, occasionally, they can be treated with whole-brain radiotherapy, depending on the age, performance status and wish of the patient. However, in some of these patients the multiple brain tumors represent multi-focal glioma rather than metastases, resulting in incorrect treatment. In such cases, various MRI characteristics may be helpful in directing towards the correct diagnosis. Thus, patients who present with multiple brain tumors should not always be considered to have metastatic disease even if they have a previous diagnosis of systemic cancer, and multifocal glioma should be ruled out. Copyright (C) 2011 S. Karger AG, Basel
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available