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Brain Metastasis 2024

A special issue of International Journal of Molecular Sciences (ISSN 1422-0067). This special issue belongs to the section "Molecular Pathology, Diagnostics, and Therapeutics".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 May 2024) | Viewed by 922

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
1. Division of Molecular Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine, The University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center, Albuquerque, NM 87131, USA
2. Department of Pathology, The University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center, Albuquerque, NM 87131, USA
3. Full Member, UNM Comprehensive Cancer Center, Albuquerque, NM 87131, USA
Interests: the biology and therapeutic utility of circulating tumor cells (CTCs); liquid biopsies; mechanisms of brain metastasis and dormancy in breast and melanoma cancers; molecular crosstalks between dormant bone-marrow (BM) cells and CTCs; roles of BM and BM cellular heterogeneity interplaying with metastasis and dormancy
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

We are launching this Special Issue on brain metastasis, called “Brain Metastasis 2024”, which focuses on the stage of cancer resulting from a multi-level cell colonization of the brain and cancer cell spreading in the brain microenvironment. Brain metastasis is a devastating occurrence in many cancer types, notably in lung, melanoma, and breast cancer. Its frequency is increasing at alarming levels in these and other cancer settings. Accordingly, brain metastasis represents a compendium of devastating diseases, arising from several cancer types, and is mostly fatal because of the extremely poor prognosis when compared to primary cancer treatment: the median survival of patients diagnosed with brain metastasis is only 13 months. While current clinical treatment options include surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation therapy, these treatments are mostly palliative and do not significantly extend patients’ survival. Newly developed approaches stemming from using immunotherapy have been recently applied to patients with symptomatic brain metastasis; however, the effectiveness of an immune checkpoint blockade is limited. Improved understandings of the biology of brain metastasis and mechanistic underpinnings underlying brain metastasis development and progression are therefore urgently needed since they remain largely unknown. The objective of this Special Issue is to provide new scientific and clinical outlooks on this important topic.

This Special Issue is a continuation from previous Special Issues titled “Brain Metastasis 2014” and “Brain Metastasis 2016”. This Special Issue will assess, report, and discuss new discoveries in the biology, pathology, translational research, prevention, and and treatment of brain metastasis. We welcome contributions in these and closely related areas to be submitted to “Brain Metastasis 2024”.

Prof. Dr. Dario Marchetti
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at mdpi.longhoe.net by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. International Journal of Molecular Sciences is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

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Keywords

  • brain metastasis
  • brain microenvironment
  • pathology
  • circulating tumor cells
  • tumor-normal cell crosstalks
  • new biomarkers and therapies for brain metastasis
  • cerebral spinal fluid/liquid biopsy

Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

11 pages, 999 KiB  
Article
Blood Neurofilament Light Chain and Glial Fibrillary Acidic Protein as Promising Screening Biomarkers for Brain Metastases in Patients with Lung Cancer
by Su-Hyun Kim, Beung-Chul Ahn, Dong-Eun Lee, Ki Hoon Kim, Jae-Won Hyun, Min Jeong Kim, Na Young Park, Ho ** Kim and Youngjoo Lee
Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2024, 25(12), 6397; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms25126397 - 10 Jun 2024
Viewed by 545
Abstract
The diagnosis of brain metastases (BMs) in patients with lung cancer (LC) predominantly relies on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), a method that is constrained by high costs and limited accessibility. This study explores the potential of serum neurofilament light chain (sNfL) and serum [...] Read more.
The diagnosis of brain metastases (BMs) in patients with lung cancer (LC) predominantly relies on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), a method that is constrained by high costs and limited accessibility. This study explores the potential of serum neurofilament light chain (sNfL) and serum glial fibrillary acidic protein (sGFAP) as screening biomarkers for BMs in LC patients. We conducted a retrospective analysis of 700 LC cases at the National Cancer Center, Korea, from July 2020 to June 2022, measuring sNfL and sGFAP levels at initial LC diagnosis. The likelihood of BM was evaluated using multivariate analysis and a predictive nomogram. Additionally, we prospectively monitored 177 samples from 46 LC patients initially without BM. Patients with BMs (n= 135) had significantly higher median sNfL (52.5 pg/mL) and sGFAP (239.2 pg/mL) levels compared to those without BMs (n = 565), with medians of 17.8 pg/mL and 141.1 pg/mL, respectively (p < 0.001 for both). The nomogram, incorporating age, sNfL, and sGFAP, predicted BM with an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.877 (95% CI 0.84–0.914), showing 74.8% sensitivity and 83.5% specificity. Over nine months, 93% of samples from patients without BM remained below the cutoff, while all patients develo** BMs showed increased levels at detection. A nomogram incorporating age, sNfL, and sGFAP provides a valuable tool for identifying LC patients at high risk for BM, thereby enabling targeted MRI screenings and enhancing diagnostic efficiency. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Brain Metastasis 2024)
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