Vol 2, No 3 (2012)

The paper describes the classification and treatment options of craniopharyngiomas, benign epithelial tumors arising from the cell remains of the Rathke’s pouch. It presents a few types of surgical accesses during surgical treatment for this disease and gives examples of how to place an Ommaya reservoir. 

The authors analyze their experience in treating metastases in the chiasmal-sellar region (CSR), which has been gained at the Acad. N.N. Burdenko Neurosurgery Research Institute in 2000 to 2011 (a follow-up was made in 93 patients with metastatic skull base tumors, of them 19 (20.4 %) metastases were located in CSR), as well as the data available in the literature.

The problem of lymphoproliferative lesions of the central nervous system (CNS) is urgent in both patients with immunodeficiency states and those without background systemic pathology in spite of the fact that the statistics vary greatly in these two categories. Despite a wide range of noninvasive diagnostic procedures, it is impossible to obtain a significant confirmation of primary lymphoproliferative CNS lesion in patients with no background systemic manifestations of the disease. Stereotactic biopsy, followed by combination chemo- and radiotherapy in accordance with the existing protocols, is a well-known procedure to treat suspected primary CNS lymphoma. This paper describes 4 cases of primary CNS and skull bone lymphomas in patients operated on for skull bone granuloma (in one case) or rapid progression of focal and global cerebral neurological deficit (in 3 cases). A postoperative histological analysis using the currently available methods revealed lymphoproliferative lesions; in this connection the patients continued treatment by oncologists. 

Chondroid skull base tumors are a rare and little studied pathology; many problems of their classification, diagnosis and treatment remain to be solved. This group of neoplasms is referred to as bone tumors arising from the cartilaginous tissue of the skull base bones, particularly from the bones formed during chondral osteogenesis. The paper details the clinical picture, X-ray and morphological diagnosis of chondroid tumors. Particular attention is given to surgery and radiotherapy for this category of tumors.

The main tasks of the study were to evaluate the efficiency of treatment and to estimate time to progression and survival rates in patients with recurrent glioblastomas receiving combination treatment with irinotecan and bevacizumab. Five (41.7 %) patients achieved partial regression; disease stabilization and progression were observed in 5 (41.7 %) and 2 (16.6 %) cases, respectively. The median time to disease progression was 5.5 months; 6-month and one-year survival rates were 66.6 and 25 %. The median overall survival was 9.0 months. Treatment tolerability was satisfactory. Thus, the preliminary results of our study show the high efficiency of a combination therapy regimen incorporating bevacizumab and irinotecan for patients with recurrent glioblastomas and they are comparable with the data available in the literature on investigations of the efficiency of this treatment regimen. This study is being continued. 

Since 2006, the N.N. Blokhin Russian Cancer Research Center, Russian Academy of Medical Sciences, has been conducting an investigation of the efficiency of targeted therapy with gefitinib in patients with brain metastasis from non-small cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC). The evaluation of treatment efficiency in 9 patients with tumor EGFR mutation in NSCLC revealed that 1 (11.1 %) and 5 (55.6 %) patients achieved complete and partial regression, respectively; disease stabilization was observed in 3 (33.3 %). The median time to progression was 7 months; the patients did not achieve the median survival. The evaluation of treatment efficiency in a group of 6 patients without tumor EGFR mutation or its evidence showed complete and partial tumor regressions; disease stabilization was noted in 3 (50.0 %); disease progression was in 3 (50 %). The median time to progression was 2 months; the median survival was 5 months. Thus, the high efficiency of treatment with the EGFR inhibitor gefitinib in patients with brain metastases from NSCLS was achieved only in a group of patients with found ECFR mutations in exons 18–21 in the tumor. Determination of the status of ECFR in the tumor is the most important prognostic factor when using therapy with the EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitor gefitinib in patients with brain metastases. The investigation is being continued. 

Tumor cells can differentiate into more mature forms in undifferentiated or poorly differentiated tumors, such as medulloblastomas with increased nodularity, as well as neuroblastomas. The authors describe 2 cases of neuroblastoma maturation into ganglioneuroblastoma 5 months after chemotherapy in a 2-year-old girl and 3 years after radiotherapy in a 16-year-old girl.