Francis Ali-Osman 
Brain Tumors 

Exciting new developments and discoveries of the last two decades are beginning to shed light on the complex biology of brain tumors and are advancing our understa- ing of the cellular and molecular processes involved in their initiation, progression, and clinical and biological behavior. The disease process in brain tumors is quite complex and the resulting tumors are characterized by a high degree of biological and clinical diversity. Thus, despite the advances of the last two decades, prognosis for patients with malignant brain tumors remains abysmal. Significant progress in the diagnosis, treatment and, ultimately, prevention of these tumors will require both the timely h- nessing of the advances in basic and clinical brain tumor research, and a continuing concerted effort at increasing our understanding of brain tumor biology, in particular, the molecular genetic changes and perturbations of cellular pathways involved in brain oncogenesis and which drive the biological and clinical behavior of the tumors. Brain tumor diagnosis and prognosis, which is still largely based on histopathology and other clinical criteria, will, in the future, acquire a significant molecular component, with the incorporation of knowledge of genes that are mutated, over-expressed, deleted, silenced, or functionally altered in the tumors. Treatment strategies for brain tumors, rather than being empirical, will be rationally developed based on an understanding of the cellular and molecular mechanisms and targets that have been activated, suppressed, or otherwise altered.

Table of Content

Epidemiology, Biology, Genetics, and Pathology.- Epidemiology of Brain Tumors.- Molecular Genetics of Tumors of the Central Nervous System.- Molecular Pathology of Nervous System Tumors.- Genetic Modeling of Glioma Formation in Mice.- Biology of Brain Metastasis.- Analysis of Neural Precursor Cells in the Context of Origin of Brain Tumors, Their Treatment, and Repair of Treatment-Associated Damage.- Biology of Primitive Neuroectodermal Tumors.- Mechanisms and Pathways.- Molecular and Cellular Biology of the Blood-Brain Barrier and Its Characteristics in Brain Tumors.- Immune Regulation in the Brain.- Genetic Pathways in the Evolution of Gliomas.- DNA Damage and Repair in the Therapeutic Response of Tumors of the Central Nervous System.- Role of Urokinase-Type Plasminogen Activator Receptor in Human Glioma Invasion.- Regulation of Cell-Cycle and Apoptosis in Human Brain Tumors.- Therapeutics.- Systemic Chemotherapy for Metastatic Tumors of the Central Nervous System.- Radiation Biology and Therapy of Tumors of the Central Nervous System.- Advances in the Management of Cerebral Metastases.- Immunotherapy of Central Nervous System Tumors.- Targeting Drugs to Tumors of the Central Nervous System.- Rational Design and Development of Targeted Brain Tumor Therapeutics.