Special MRI Spots When Brain Tumors Turn Deadly

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Dr. Annick Desjardins, a neuro-oncologist and associate in the department of medicine at Duke University Medical Center, said low-grade gliomas occur less frequently than high-grade gliomas and are difficult to treat. The lowest level of gliomas -- grade one -- hasn't infiltrated the brain yet and can be cut out, she explained. But grade two gliomas -- the type studied by Waldman and his team -- have infiltrated the brain and aren't easy to remove, she said.

A doctor who is following a patient has no way to tell if the tumor will be stable for 10 years or progress in the next three months, Desjardins said. "Early detection will probably allow us to control those tumors over a longer period of time," she said, before adding, "We don't have those data at this particular time to prove that."

Dr. Paul Graham Fisher, an associate professor of neurology and pediatrics at Stanford University School of Medicine, said perfusion MRI technology is widely available at bigger city and academic medical centers. The use of perfusion MRI detailed in the new study provides a noninvasive technique and "the less invasive you can be, the better it will be for patients in the long run," he said.

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But, Fisher added, "The only sad part is that the imaging and diagnostics are advancing much faster than the therapeutics. Hand-in-hand, they are critical to each other." While the new ability to detect changes in low-grade gliomas suggested by Waldman's group doesn't promise better therapies or cure rates, "it is encouraging," he said.

More information

To learn more about brain tumors, visit the U.S. National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke.

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