New Classification System for Brain Tumors

Doctors at Universitätsklinikum Erlangen have developed a simple radiological method to predict the development of gliomas.

Despite modern chemoradiation therapy it is still very difficult to give reliable prognoses for malignant gliomas. Surgical removal of the glioma is still the preferred method of treatment. Doctors at Universitätsklinikum Erlangen’s Department of Neurosurgery have now developed a new procedure for analyzing radiological imaging scans which makes it possible to predict the course of a disease relatively precisely. Their findings have now been published in the journal Scientific Reports.

A quick and safe way of classifying a tumor’s operability

The Friedlein Grading A/B (FGA/B) classification system – named after the physician Katharina Friedlein – is a quick and precise way of determining whether surgical removal is the best possible treatment method for a given tumor. Essentially, the Erlangen-based doctors classify tumors according to their position in the brain in the context of a routine magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan. tumors that are not located in functional brain regions or that are located at a certain distance from such regions are classified as FGA, while tumors that are close to or inside a functional brain region are classified as FGB.

This image shows a classification chart for the tumors.
Classifying tumors in an uncomplicated manner in clinical practice using MRI scans. Image credit: Nicolai Savaskan.

Developing precise low-risk strategies

With the FGA/B method it possible to plan the consequences of tumor surgery, which is crucial for the success of the treatment, in a precise, low-risk and quantitative manner. This makes the Friedlein Grading system the first classification system which can be easily applied in clinical practice. ‘There have already been several attempts in medicine to develop such a classification system. However, most approaches were too complicated and were based on academic values only, which made it difficult to use them in clinical practice,’ says PD Dr. Nicolai Savaskan from FAU’s Chair of Neurosurgery. ‘The FGA/B method can be applied on the basis of a standard MRI scan which glioma patients have to undergo anyway and is highly reliable despite being so simple. We hope that our colleagues in neurosurgery departments in smaller hospitals will also be able to use it successfully in everyday clinical practice.’

About this brain cancer research

Source: Nicolai Savaskan – FAU
Image Credit: Image credited to Nicolai Savaskan
Original Research: The research paper “A new functional classification system (FGA/B) with prognostic value for glioma patients” by Katharina Friedlein, Yavor Bozhkov, Nirjhar Hore, Andreas Merkel, Björn Sommer, Sebastian Brandner, Michael Buchfelder, Nicolai E. Savaskan and Ilker Y. Eyüpoglu will appear in Scientific Reports during the week of July 13 2015. We will provide a link to the research when it is made available to the public.

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  1. The Future of Brain Cancer: Iron Reason for Optimism. Cancer still has a reasonable chance to kill the patient even when cancer itself is diagnosed and treated early. Cancer is when iron-overloaded cells divide in an uncontrolled way. Primary tumors always develop at body sites of excessive iron deposits. According to the American Cancer Society, although there are many kinds of cancer, all cancers start because abnormal cells grow out of control. Abnormal cells or iron-overloaded cells? Not all scientific conspiracy theories are wrong, the Father of Oncology explains. Cancer and its inadequate treatments can affect body systems. Cancers that start in the brain are called primary brain tumors. Cancers that have spread to the brain from somewhere else in the body are called secondary brain tumors or brain metastases. Tumors that are not located in functional brain regions or that are located at a certain distance from such regions are classified as FGA, while tumors that are close to or inside a functional brain region are classified as FGB. Treatment for brain tumors is based on many factors, such as age, overall health, and medical history; the type, location, and size of the tumor. Cancerous cells (iron-overloaded cells, iron-rich cells, iron-saturated cells) can remain after surgery and will eventually grow back. Direct intratumoral injections of iron-deficiency agents (ceramic needles) are needed when tumors/metastases cannot be removed with surgery (ceramic blades). Personalized iron-deficiency methods (special diets, blood donations) can neutralize micro-metastases in hospitalized patients. Baba Vanga became very popular in Russia since her prophesy about Kursk became true. Vanga predicted the 9/11 terrorist attacks in the US. In 1994 she predicted: A day will come and cancer will be chained in iron! A cure must ‘contain’ the iron, because this element is decreasing in the human organism.

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