Current Research in Brain Cancer

Brain cancers occur when an abnormal growth of cells occurs in the brain. Some types of brain cancer are medulloblastoma, astrocytoma, meningiomas, etc. A form of astrocytoma called glioblastoma is the most aggressive form of brain cancer. Symptoms of brain cancer include headaches, vomiting, seizures, altered vision and mental changes. It is diagnosed using computed tomography (CT) or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans and the result is confirmed usually through a biopsy. The treatment of brain cancer may involve a combination of chemotherapy, radiation therapy and surgery. No therapy has yet shown any progress in increasing life expectancy in people with malignant gliomas. However, cancer immunotherapy is being actively studied. Research is also being pursued in the use of vesicular stomatitis virus and retroviral replicating vectors as management strategies for brain cancer. The objective of this book is to give a modern perspective on brain cancer. Different approaches, evaluations, methodologies and advanced studies on brain cancer have been included in this book. Students, researchers, experts and all associated with neurology, neuroscience, surgical oncology, clinical oncology and radiation oncology will benefit alike from this book.