Tumors of the Brain and Spine [Paperback]

Tumors of the Brain and Spine focuses primarily on approaches to the treatment of benign, primary low-grade to high-grade, and metastatic tumors in the brain and spine, as practiced by surgeons and clinicians at the University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center. The book is written mainly for the primary care oncologist, general neurologist, and general neurosurgeon. Discussion of treatment coverage focuses on neurosurgery, chemotherapy, and radiation therapy, singly and in combination. Also included are chapters on symptom management, molecular genetics and neuropathology of intracranial tumors, leptomeningeal dissemination of systemic cancer, epidemiology of brain tumors, and innovative treatment strategies.

This book discusses treatment of benign, primary low-grade to high-grade, and metastatic tumors in the brain and spine, as practiced at the University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center. The book is written for primary care oncologists, neurologists, and neurosurgeons.

It is frequently stated that progress in the management of tumors of the brain and spine has not occurred in the past 25 years. Such statements seriously underestimate and misrepresent progress in managing various central nervous system tumors, the tremendous technologic enhancements that have revolutionized the imaging of the tumors and the host organ, the multitude of surgical adjuncts such as computerized imaging guidance and functional mapping of the brain and its tracts that are routinely used in the modern neurosurgical operating room, and the highly conformal delivery of radiation to the tumor mass with remarkable sparing of the surrounding nervous tissue. Underlying these technologic improvements are the changes in philosophy that have resulted in a true multidisciplinary approach. Equally significant is the molecular revolution that is identifying key markers behind the genesis of brain tumors, their proliferation, and their resistance to therapl³!