The NCI Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events v3.0 is a descriptive terminology which can be utilized for Adverse Event (AE) reporting. A grading (severity) scale is provided for each AE term.

These results suggest that Crk is required for early attachment to laminin, cell motility, and growth of glioblastoma cell line KMG4.3

Evaluation of O6-methylguanine-DNA methyltransferase (MGMT) expression is important for antiglioma therapy as many clinical trials have demonstrated that promoter hypermethylation and low level expression of MGMT are associated with an enhanced response to alkylating agents. However, here we report that the current strategies used to evaluate MGMT status in gliomas are unreliable. We observed discordance in the MGMT expression status when immunohistochemical evaluation and polymerase chain reaction-based methylation assessments were used: 73% of gliomas with methylated MGMT promoter had substantial numbers of MGMT-immunopositive tumor cells. Furthermore, when MGMT expression was tested in tumor homogenates using reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction, 43% of tumors were found positive, in comparison to only 24%, when histologic samples were assayed immunohistochemically. To explain these inconsistencies we undertook a detailed immunohistochemical evaluation of tumor samples and found that some gliomas demonstrated remarkably high expression of MGMT in the entire tumor whereas others contained only a small immunopositive area. Additionally, we found that gliomas contained various types of non-neoplastic cells expressing MGMT, including lymphocytes, vascular endothelial cells, and macrophages/microglias, which contribute to overall MGMT expression detected in tumor homogenates, and thus result in overestimation of tumor MGMT expression. Therefore, to correctly establish MGMT expression in the tumor, which could be informative of glioma sensitivity to alkylating agents, exclusion of non-neoplastic brain components from analysis is required.

Malignant gliomas are extremely difficult to treat with no specific curative treatment. On the other hand, photodynamic medicine represents a promising technique for neurosurgeons in the treatment of malignant glioma. The resection rate of malignant glioma has increased from 40% to 80% owing to 5-aminolevulinic acid-photodynamic diagnosis (ALA-PDD). Furthermore, ALA is very useful because it has no serious complications. Based on previous research, it is apparent that protoporphyrin IX (PpIX) accumulates abundantly in malignant glioma tissues after ALA administration. Moreover, it is evident that the mechanism underlying PpIX accumulation in malignant glioma tissues involves an abnormality in porphyrin-heme metabolism, specifically decreased ferrochelatase enzyme activity. During resection surgery, the macroscopic fluorescence of PpIX to the naked eye is more sensitive than magnetic resonance imaging, and the alert real time spectrum of PpIX is the most sensitive method. In the future, chemotherapy with new anticancer agents, immunotherapy, and new methods of radiotherapy and gene therapy will be developed; however, ALA will play a key role in malignant glioma treatment before the development of these new treatments. In this paper, we provide an overview and present the results of our clinical research on ALA-PDD.

Our new criteria for the sonographic diagnosis of plaque ulcer are more useful than the conventional ones.