Glioma Flashcards
Depending on cellular origin the glioma can make
Astrocytoma, Oligodendroglioma or Ependymoma
4 grades of gliomas
Pilocytic Astrocytoma, Low-grade Glioma, Anaplastic Glioma and Glioblastoma multiforme
Glioma features
- The most common malignant primary brain tumor in adults
- Peak age in the 6th decade (people in their 30s and 40s can have them too)
- Increasing incidence
- Without treatment fatal course within weeks
- Patients experience hemiparesis, seizures, aphasia, personality changes and die quickly
Histological features of glioma
Grade 1: low cell density
Grade 2: medium cell density and a little polymorph(?)
Grade 3: High cell density, polymorph, elevated, pathological mitosis figures
Grade 4: High cell density, high polymorph, atypic mytosis and necrosis
Neoangiogenesis
thedevelopment of new blood vessels froma pre-existing vasculature involves the migration behavior
Other than histological features, what can help us identify the grade of glioma?
Molecular features & IDH mutations (Glioblastoma can both have WT and mutated version)
Are you more likely to survive with or without a IDH mutation?
With
What is IDH?
Isocitratdehydrogenase - it’s a metabolic enzyme that’s part of the Krebs cycle that will catalyze Isocitrate → a-Ketoglutarate.
Outcomes of IDH mutations
reduces enzyme activity
additional „gain of function“
hypermethylation of DNA
silencing genes
Notes on surgery
We fix the head
There is a ring to steady the surgeons hands
we have a bipolar instrument to coagulate vessels to stop bleeding
It’s difficult to separate tumor and healthy tissue, but using 5-ALA to mark tumor tissue is useful
Neuronavigation
we can match the intraoperatively obtained pictures with MRI’s from the patients to we know where we are. We have a pen we stick into the area (?) which will show us where we are. Downside: during surgery we have shift and swelling - it get’s less and less exact over time
Tractography
all fiber tracks are different, so we therefor look at the tractography to keep neurological function - we can also preform wake-surgery. A neuropsychologist can examine the patients and tell when we’re reached the margins of the tumor and it’s better to stop there to not lose neurological function
Why do we put so much effort into removing the whole tumor?
Because survival rates are a lot longer if we do
Do patients fully recover if we remove the whole tumor?
No, the area around will still show abnormal cells
TT fields stands for?
Tumor treating fields
What are TT fields?
Alternating charges –> indicates that the poles are switching in a set frequency. The charges move back and forth and the dipoles rotate
Which part of the cell cycle does TT fields screw up?
mitosis
Phases of Mitotis
Prophase: DNA condensates and forms the chromosomes
Metaphase: the spindle fibers line up chromosomes the
Anaphase: the spindle fiber separate the chromosomes
Telophase: the cytoplasm and chromosomes are divided into two separate cells