Brain Tumors

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Brain Tumors

• By Melissa Szyperski, Christina Knudson,
  Christel Loyd, and Chris Holbein

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General Information

• Malignant gliomas are the leading cause of death
  in children and adults.
• Approximately 17,000 will be diagnosed with a
  primary brain tumor each year
• Prognosis is dismal
• Most patients die within the first year

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Types of Brain Tumors

• Primary tumors start in the brain
• -Benign
• -Malignant
• Metastatic tumors begin in another part of the
  body and spread to the brain

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Benign Tumors

• Benign tumors do not spread into the nearby body
  tissue
• These tumors are non-cancerous
• People rarely die from benign tumors

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Malignant Tumors

• Malignant tumors in the brain invade nearby
  tissue
• Cancerous
• They are life threatening
• Gliomas are the most common type of brain tumor

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Malignant Gliomas

• Tumors are caused by abnormal cell growth
• Tumors are categorized using the World Health
  Organization classification scale
• Four grades measured by the level of severity
• Glioblastoma multiforme is a grade 4 tumor
• Not sure as to exact cause

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Symptoms

• Headache
• Seizures
• Convulsions
• Speech problems
• Impaired vision
• Weakness in parts of the body
• Problems with understanding

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Diagnosis

• Check family history
• NF1 and/or NF2 gene mutation
• Physical examination
• Radiological tests
• CAT Scans
• MRI
• Surgical biopsy

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Treatments

• Open Surgery
• Stereotactic Surgery
• Chemotherapy
• Chemo wafers in the brain
• Radiation

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Active Areas of Research

• Poor outcome for these patients
• Possible reason is that at a molecular level we
  do not completely understand the processes that
  occur in the transformation of a normal cell into
  a cancer cell.

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Gene Expression

• Transcription
• DNA RNA
• Translation
• mRNA Protein
• Gene expression is being used to better
  understand the process cells go through to become
  cancerous

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Protocols

• Establish primary cell cultures for each
  patients tumor.
• Extract total RNA
• Microarray
• Examines 1000s genes simultaneously
• Immunohistochemistry
• Confirm the type of cells being evaluated

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Data

• Examine quality of total RNA Sample
• Determine the concentration of RNA

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Immunohistochemistry

• Use pictures to look at the cells, stained with
  dye, even more thoroughly

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Acknowledgments

• We would like to thank Zita Sibenaller for
  allowing us to shadow her all week and use her
  lab.
• We would also like to thank Jose for planning
  this course and giving us guidance during this
  great opportunity.
• Finally we would like to thank our TAs and RAs
  for taking us to our daily activities and helping
  us when we needed it.

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References

• Berger, M. Wilson, C. (1999). The Gliomas.
  Philadelphia W.B. Saunders Company.
• National Cancer Institute. 3/31/2003. What You
  Need To Know About Brain Tumors. 6/19/2003
  lthttp//www.nci.nih.gov/cancerinfo/wyntk/braingt.
• Shapiro, W. R. (April 1999). Current Therapy
  for Brain Tumors. Neurological Review, Vol. 56,
  P. 429-432.
• Z. Sibenaller. Personal Interview. June 23-26,
  2003.