By Robbie Sutter


There is so much that can be said about brain tumor research, as I am sure most would be able to imagine. The many procedures that have been seen are some of the most tremendous and the idea of certain drugs coming into play is what is able to help therapies along that much more. What about the idea of the actual surgery done, you may wonder? There are quite a few results to take into account and I think that certain stories are able to bring better awareness to the matter.

If you want to know more on the matter, focus on a particular article that was seen on ABC News. Case Western Reserve head coach Matt Englander was diagnosed with a tumor located in the parietal lobe, which is one matter of focus for brain tumor research. Englander said that he needed medical attention following an instance of numbness in his palms. To say that this is one of the areas of focus for organizations the likes of Voices against Brain Cancer would be an understatement.

The procedure that Englander was helped by is one that more than deserves the attention that was given by the article. The "awake" surgery was performed and, after looking at the details listed, I can definitely vouch for the idea that it is one of the more intricate processes I have ever seen. With the usage of an intra-operative MRI, the surgery would be done in order to eliminate the oligodendroglioma that was seen in Englander's brain. Of course, a high level of effort was going to be required as well.

Once it was determined what had to be done, Englander went under "awake" surgery, the aforementioned MRI mapping the brain so that vital areas would not be damaged in the process. Before this was set in place, there was no true way to tell which areas of the brain were impacted and which ones were not. Englander was put to sleep and then awoken again for the sake of further mapping of the brain, testing language and motor skills. What were the results of this procedure?

If you are curious, there are quite a few positive aspects to take away from this story. For one, Englander was able to come away with an IDH1 in addition to 1P and 19 Q mutations; each of these are good things. There has also been the idea that Englander would not require to go in for chemo or radiation therapy afterwards, which speaks volumes about the procedure. To me, it is one that can be given the utmost attention by those in brain tumor research.




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