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Metastatic brain tumor is a metastasis that forms in the brain. The tissue that composes it is not formed by mutated cells of the central nervous system, but by cells that detach from other tumors present in the body.
Some primary tumors more easily form metastases in the brain than other organs for anatomical reasons. In particular, as shown by an American study of more than 2,700 cases of metastatic brain tumors, the primary tumors that form metastases mainly in the brain are lung cancer, bad cancer, and genitourinary tumors.
may indicate the presence of metastases to the brain. These include headaches, muscle weakness, behavioral changes as well as judgment and reasoning skills. Physical problems may include visual impairment, hearing loss, tremors, nausea or vomiting, language disturbances, ambulatory difficulties and seizures
The diagnostic tests are computed tomography and in particular the following: Cerebral magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) with gadolinium, which accurately badesses the number of lesions. Tumor staging and particularly total CT are also essential
To date, the therapeutic options depend on the number of metastases, their size and their location; in addition, the clinical conditions of the patient and the presence of the disease in other sites are also important
In general, as for the primary brain tumor, the metastatic is often attacked first by surgery . In addition to potentially eliminating metastases, surgery can also reduce symptoms and pressure in the skull.
Chemotherapy drugs are not particularly effective in these types of cancer.
to be greatly badisted by a very important finding of the Molinette Hospital of Turin and the Cnr of Madrid: the growth of metastases in the brain from lung and mammary tumors is facilitated by the presence of a factor molecular, not so much about the tumor cells themselves, but about healthy brain cells, which were considered a defensive barrier.
Specifically, the contribution of the Neuro-Oncological Group of Turin (Riccardo Soffietti, Roberta Ruda, Federica Franchino and Alessia Pellerino), next to the Pathologist Dr. Luca Bertero (Division of Pathological Anatomy of 39; Molinette Hospital), has shown that the escape of metastatic tumor cells in the brain is favored by the presence of a molecular factor (called Stat3): this factor acts less on the tumor cells themselves than on healthy brain cells (called "reactive astrocytes") that have always been considered a sort of defensive barrier.
An extraordinary result that required the study of a hundred brain metastases, all arising from neurosurgical operations, and which shows that Stat3 patients expressed on reactive astrocytes have a much higher survival short than the others.
Of course, the researchers will not stop here with their investigations: it will now be necessary to verify in clinical studies the possibility of stopping the irrefutably identified mechanism, and the way forward will be pharmacological.
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