Radiation therapy for gliomas

We present several studies related to the effects of radiation on normal brain and gliomas. One paper suggests a mechanism of radiation-induced reproductive failure that is separate from mitotic cell death and apoptosis. Others describe changes in cytokine regulation and receptor density. After irradiation, necrosis of normal tissue can be indistinguishable from recurrence of the tumor with conventional studies. However, functional imaging can differentiate between neoplasm and functional alterations in tissue due to radiation. While much more work must be done in this field, these papers indicate that radiation therapy results in a variety of cellular and molecular alterations. As a result of these chan-ges, they suggest that irradiated brain tissue is functionally and clinically different from untreated brain.
Source: Critical Reviews in Neurosurgery - Category: Neurosurgery Source Type: research