Origins of brain tumors-a disease of stem cells?

摘要

Brain cancer is one of the most devastating CNS pathologies. The majority of adult CNS tumors are glial and classified as astrocytic, oligo-dendrocytic or mixed on the basis of gene expression and morphologic similarities to normal cells of the respective cell type. Gliomas either present as high-grade tumors, or progress towards a higher grade and more undifferentiated character as tumor cells acquire additional mutations over time. Patients with lower grade gliomas often survive for many years, but people with infiltrating grade IV astrocytic neoplasm glio-blastoma multiforme have a median survival of approximately 1 year.1