The Devil in the Head: Gliomas

The Devil in the Head: Gliomas

Wang Mingyu The First Hospital of Shanxi Medical University

Among the many organs in the human body, the brain is undoubtedly the most mysterious one. It controls our thinking, memory, emotions and behavior, and is the command center of life. However, when this command center is invaded and damaged by the enemy, the human body will have various functional disorders and even endanger life. Glioma is one of the demons that harm the brain.

Betrayal of Allies

Glioma originates from glial cells surrounding neurons. These cells originally support and protect neurons, but once they become cancerous, they become rebels and demons in the brain. Glioma can occur in any part of the brain and is the most common intracranial tumor.

The causes of glioma are complex, involving both genetic factors and environmental factors. People of different ages may develop glioma, but certain types, such as glioblastoma, are more common in the elderly, while medulloblastoma is more common in children and adolescents.

Genetic factors play an important role in the development of gliomas. Studies have shown that patients with genetic diseases such as tuberous sclerosis and neurofibromatosis have a significantly increased risk of gliomas. Gene mutations in healthy people may also lead to excessive proliferation and abnormal differentiation of glial cells, thus causing gliomas.

Environmental factors are an important factor in the development of glioma. Long-term exposure to high doses of ionizing radiation can increase the risk of glioma. In addition, certain viral infections, such as macrophage virus infection, are also considered to be one of the potential causes of glioma. It should be pointed out that the amount of electromagnetic radiation generated by daily use of mobile phones is not enough to directly cause the onset of glioma. However, modern people's addiction to mobile phones will still have various adverse effects on their physical and mental health.

When glial cells rebel and become cancer cells, gliomas will continue to proliferate and invade the surrounding normal brain tissue, destroying the structure and function of the brain. As the tumor grows and swells, it will compress the surrounding brain tissue, causing increased intracranial pressure and a series of clinical symptoms, such as headache, nausea and vomiting, blurred vision, epileptic seizures, hemiplegia, aphasia, coma, etc.

Challenge the Devil

Faced with the demon of glioma, the medical community has developed a series of treatments with surgery as the main method and radiotherapy and chemotherapy as the auxiliary methods, aiming to prolong patients' lives and improve their quality of life.

Surgery is the preferred method. The goal of surgery is to completely remove the tumor as much as possible to reduce the tumor burden, improve symptoms, and create conditions for subsequent treatment. However, due to the extensive invasive growth characteristics of gliomas, complete resection is often difficult to achieve, especially for those tumors that are deep or involve important functional areas. During the operation, doctors need to carefully weigh the relationship between the range of resection and the protection of brain function to ensure the safety and effectiveness of the operation. This process is like walking on a tightrope. You can neither deviate to the left nor to the right, and you can only carefully carve within a very small range.

Radiotherapy and chemotherapy are important means. Radiotherapy uses high-energy rays to kill cancer cells and prevent their growth and spread. Radiotherapy is more advantageous for gliomas that are difficult to remove surgically. Chemotherapy is administered intravenously or orally to inhibit the growth and spread of tumor cells. Commonly used drugs such as temozolomide capsules can cross the blood-brain barrier and attack brain tumor cells more accurately, reducing damage to normal cells.

New technology brings new hope

In the field of glioma research, scientists continue to make new breakthroughs. With the development of gene sequencing technology, the treatment of glioma has entered a new era of precision medicine of "molecular diagnosis and treatment". Through molecular detection of tumor gene characteristics and mutations, accurate classification and personalized treatment plans can be formulated. At present, it is recommended that patients with brain glioma undergo the detection of 21 molecular markers to provide comprehensive diagnostic value and prognostic significance. Based on genetic testing, targeted drugs have emerged, which can achieve targeted treatment of specific molecular sites of brain glioma. Immunotherapy also shows potential in the treatment of glioma. For example, through intrathecal or intraventricular injection, CAR-T cells can more effectively penetrate the blood-brain barrier and play a therapeutic role, significantly prolonging the patient's overall survival. For newly diagnosed and asymptomatic glioma patients, electric field therapy may become an effective adjuvant treatment. In the field of traditional therapies, doctors and researchers are also using new technologies and methods to improve efficacy, such as establishing a multidisciplinary collaborative diagnosis and treatment model to formulate more scientific and effective treatment plans for patients, such as applying neuronavigation, surgical robots, intraoperative magnetic resonance imaging and other technologies during surgery to achieve the maximum range of safe resection.

Like most cancers, there is no cure for high-grade gliomas. But good prevails over evil. Humans are not helpless in the face of the demon of gliomas. Through scientific screening, timely diagnosis and treatment, and continuous innovation of medical technology, we are confident that we can bring patients a higher quality of life and a longer survival period. Let us work together to fight the "demon" in our heads and protect every precious life.