Incidence, Prognostic Factors, and Survival Trend in Pineal Gland Tumors: A Population-Based Analysis

IntroductionPineal gland tumors are exceedingly rare and account for 0.4-1.0% of brain neoplasms. Their rarity has confounded a clear understanding of the prognostic factors and standards of care for these neoplasms. In this study, we aimed to investigate the incidence, prognostic indicators, and survival trend of tumors emanating from the pineal gland.MethodsWe accessed the Surveillance, Epidemiology, End Results (SEER) Program for pineal gland tumors from 1975-2016. A multivariate Cox regression model was used to investigate the impact of clinicopathological parameters on all-cause mortality. For survival trend analysis, we employed the Kaplan Meier curve and pairwise comparisons to examine the trend.ResultsWe found 1,792 and 310,003 pineal gland and brain neoplasms during 1975-2016 resulting in an incidence of 0.6%. In the multivariate Cox proportional hazards model, older age, male gender, non-germ cell tumor, and receipt of chemotherapy were significantly associated with poor survival (p < 0.001). The extent of resection and radiotherapy administration did not produce survival advantages. Our result also highlighted an increased survival of pineal gland tumors over the years.ConclusionOur study investigated the prognostic factors that influenced survival in patients with pineal gland tumors. Chemotherapy use adversely affected patient outcomes and should be considered carefully in specific circumstances to avoid its harmful effects. These findings provide important evidence to improve current standards of care for this rare group of tumors. The survival of pineal tumors has improved over time reflecting improvements in current practice.

Role of susceptibility weighted imaging (SWI) in assessment of intra axial brain neoplasms in adults

Background Susceptibility weighted imaging (SWI) is a 3D gradient-echo MR technique that is based on blood oxygen level dependent (BOLD) induced phase effects between the venous blood and the surrounding brain parenchyma. SW-MR imaging allows for noninvasive visualization of small veins at submillimeter resolution and, therefore, is used to depict venous architecture in brain lesions. The extreme sensitivity of SWI for the detection of neovascularity (venous blood), haemorrhage, and calcification has been an indispensable tool for characterization of the internal architecture of brain tumours. Objectives Is to evaluate the role of Susceptibility weighted imaging in assessment of adults Intra axial brain Neoplasms, and its ability to characterize them into high and low grade lesions in comparison to histopathology which will be used as gold standard. Methods A cross sectional study including 31 patients suspecting intracranial brain neoplasm radiologically and clinically, conducted at Private center, the patients were investigated using Siemens machine Magnetom Skyra 3T, the period was between January 2018 till the end of June 2019 . Results Our study included 31 patients. Including 15 female and 16 male patients, with the patient’s age ranging from 20 to 68 years old with median 48 years old ranging from 35.75 (25% percentile) to 58.75 (75% percentile). Among total cases, there were 8 patients with grade 2 glioma, 10 patients with grade 3 glioma and 6 patients with grade 4 glioma, 2 patients with lymphoma and 5 patients with brain metastasis (1 lung cancer and 4 breast cancer). All the patients were evaluated with MRI including SWI sequence with special comment on the number of the intratumoral susceptibility signal (ITSS), the size of the ITSS, its morphology as well as the ratio of the ITSS to the tumor size, which were then correlated with the patient histopathological results obtained later. The study revealed that the best parameter to accurately grade the tumor is the number of ITSS within the lesion with P value 0.001, followed by the size of the ITSS with P value 0.002 and Pearson Chi-Square value equals 20.6, while the lowest one was the ratio of the ITSS to the tumor size with P value 0.002 Pearson Chi-Square value equals 17.3. Our study showed that the morphology alone was not able to accurately grade the tumor with P value 0.007 ( Not significant) Conclusion SWI using 3T MR system provides quite useful information for preoperative tumor grading. There seems to be a strong correlation between pathological grading and that assessed with SWI.

Dosimetric impact of FFF over FF beam using VMAT for brain neoplasms treated with radiotherapy

Background: This study was conducted to assess the dosimetric impact of FFF beam plans on high-grade brain neoplasms using the VMAT technique when compared with FF beam plans. Material and Methods: Thirty patients with high-grade brain neoplasms, who had received radiotherapy using VMAT technique retrospectively were selected for this study. All the patients were planned for VMAT using 6MV_FF beam and the same plan was re-optimized using 6MV_FFF beam keeping the same dose constraint. Radiotherapy dose distribution on planning target volume (PTV) and organs at risk (OAR), target conformity index (CI), Homogeneity Index (HI), Low dose volume in the patient (V5, V10, V20, and V30), and Integral dose to the whole body in both plans were compared. Results: The PTV coverage and OAR’s showed no significant differences in dose distribution between the FFF and FF beam VMAT planning. There was a reduction of the average maximum dose in the right eye, left eye, right optic nerve, and left optic nerve using FFF beams. The reduction in average low dose volume was observed in V5, V10, V20, V30, and Mean Dose. Also, a significant reduction was observed in the integral dose to the whole body using the FFF beam. Conclusions: Using FFF beams with VMAT is doable for the treatment of high-grade brain neoplasms, and the delivery mode of the FFF beam in VMAT may yield similar results to FF beam which should be confirmed in a large scale prospective clinical trial.

Pineal Gland Tumors: A Review

The pineal gland is a small, pinecone-shaped endocrine gland that participates in the biological rhythm regulation of vertebrates. The recognized major product of the pineal gland is melatonin—a multifunctional endogenous indoleamine. Accumulating evidence suggests that the pineal gland is important for preserving ideal health conditions in vertebrate. Tumors of the pineal region account for approximately 3–11% of pediatric brain neoplasms but fewer than 1% of brain neoplasms in adults. It is fundamental to expand advanced imaging techniques together with both clinical and laboratory knowledge, to help to differentiate among pineal neoplasms and thus facilitate accurate primary diagnoses and proper therapeutic interventions. In this review, we report the gross anatomy of the pineal gland and its functional significance and discuss the clinical relevance of pineal gland tumors, underlining the importance of identifying the leading causes of pineal region masses.

Synthesis and Antitumour Evaluation of Indole-2-Carboxamides against Paediatric Brain Cancer Cells

Paediatric glioblastomas are rapidly growing, devastating brain neoplasms with an invasive phenotype. Radiotherapy and chemotherapy, which are the current therapeutic adjuvant to surgical resection, are still associated with various toxicity...

Anti-glioblastoma effects of nanomicelle-curcumin plus erlotinib

Glioblastoma (GBM), one of the most significant brain neoplasms, is characterized by high metastasis and recurrence.

EFFICIENCY OF PRE-HOSPITAL DIAGNOSIS OF THE STROKE

Purpose of the study. To assess the quality of diagnosis cerebrovascular accident (CA) at the pre-hospital stage in patients brought to the regional vascular center. Material and methods. 2708 case histories of the emergency department and accompanying sheets of first aid in patients with a guiding diagnosis of CA and 973 medical records of impatient in the regional vascular center were analyzed. Results and conclusion. Of the 2708 patients admitted with a diagnosis of CA, 973 people were hospitalized. Among hospitalized patients, the diagnosis of stroke was confirmed in 96.5% of cases. The most frequent diseases that were mistakenly diagnosed as a stroke turned out to be: diabetes, traumatic brain injury and brain neoplasms, etc. Confirmation of the guiding diagnosis during self-circulation was 36.6%, when delivered by ambulance crews — 39.8%, air ambulance — 86.7% and by sanitary transport — 16.5% of cases.