Surgical management of diffuse low-grade gliomas associated with other intracranial diseases

Concurrent glioma and multiple sclerosis: A systematic review of case reports

BACKGROUND

It is uncommon for individuals with demyelinating disease, notably multiple sclerosis (MS), to be diagnosed with intracranial gliomas. It has been debated whether or not the concurrence of these two disorders is accidental. Clinically, it may be challenging to diagnose someone who has MS and an intracranial tumor simultaneously. We conducted this systematic review to evaluate the glioma patients following MS.

METHODS

We collected 63 studies from 1672 databases from January 1990 to February 2023, and our inclusion criteria involved peer-reviewed case reports/series studies reporting concurrent MS and glioma in patients, considering various types of gliomas.

RESULTS

We included 145 cases, 51% were women and 49 % were men, with an average age of 47.4 years. Common symptoms of glioma at admission included seizures (31.2 %), hemiparesis (15.6 %), and headache (14.3 %). 75 % of patients had primarily with relapsing-remitting MS (RRMS). MS treatments included interferon(IFN)-ß (44.6 %), glatiramer acetate (GA) (21.4 %), fingolimod (19.6 %), and natalizumab (19.6 %). The average time between MS and glioma diagnosis was 12.1 years, with various timeframes. Among the 59 reported cases, 45.8 % led to patient fatalities, while the remaining 54.2 % managed to survive.

CONCLUSION

This co-occurrence, though rare, suggests potential underlying shared mechanisms or vulnerabilities, possibly at a genetic or environmental level. An interdisciplinary approach, combining the expertise of neurologists, oncologists, radiologists, and pathologists, is vital to ensure accurate diagnosis and optimal management of affected individuals. Nonetheless, there is still a significant lack of information regarding this phenomenon, necessitating large-scale population-based studies and experimental research.

Malignant transformation of low-grade gliomas in patients undergoing adjuvant therapy

Low-grade gliomas (LGG) comprise nearly 15-20 % of all central nervous system glial tumors. Several factors have been recognized as playing role in LGG malignant transformation (MT). A breakthrough analysis of a multidisciplinary group pointed that temozolomide may play a role in MT of LGGs. We analyzed the prevalence of MT in LGG patients submitted to adjuvant therapy (AT). We analyzed the medical charts of 43 patients with LGG submitted to surgery or biopsy and attending at Hospital do Servidor Público Estadual de São Paulo (São Paulo, Brazil), consecutively diagnosed from 1995 to 2013. 43 patients (24 women and 19 men) were evaluated, with mean age of 45.3 years. According to histology, 30 were astrocytomas (70 %), 12 (27 %) were oligodendrogliomas, and 1 (3 %) were mixed glioma. Mean follow-up time was 4.2 years with the standard deviation of 2.1. Twenty-eight patients did not receive adjuvant therapy and 15 received adjuvant therapy. From 43 patients with complete follow-up, 21 (48 %) experienced malignant transformation. Among such patients, nine were users of AT. Forty-eight percent of patients presented MT, being 60 % in the AT group and 42.8 % without AT. Our analysis revealed a high prevalence of MT in patients undergoing AT, higher than in patients without AT.