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Lecture: profile of risks and benefits of new antiepileptic drugs in brain tumor-related epilepsy

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Abstract

In patients with brain tumor, seizures are the onset symptom in 20–40% of the patients, while a further 20–45% of the patients will present them during the course of the disease. These data are important when considering the choice of antiepileptic drugs for this particular patient population, because brain tumor-related epilepsy (BTRE) is often drug resistant, has a strong impact on the quality of life and weighs heavily on public health expenditures. In brain tumor patients, the presence of epilepsy is considered as the most important risk factor for long-term disability. For this reason, the problem of the proper administration of medications and their potential side effects is of great importance, because good seizure control can significantly improve the patient’s psychological and relational sphere. In these patients, new generation drugs such as gabapentin, lamotrigine, levetiracetam, oxcarbazepine, pregabalin, topiramate, and zonisamide are preferred, because they have fewer drug interactions and cause fewer side effects. Among the recently marketed drugs, lacosamide has demonstrated promising results and should be considered as a possible treatment option. Therefore, it is necessary to develop a customized treatment plan for each patient with BTRE, whose goals are complete seizure control, minimal or no side effects, and elimination of cognitive impairment and/or psychosocial problems.

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The authors declare that there is no conflict of interest related to the publication of this article.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Tumor-related Epilepsy, Neurology Unit, Department of Neuroscience and Cervical-facial Pathology, National Institute for Cancer “Regina Elena”, Via Elio Chianesi 53, 00144, Rome, Italy

    Marta Maschio & L. Dinapoli

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  1. Marta Maschio
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  2. L. Dinapoli
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Correspondence to Marta Maschio.

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Maschio, M., Dinapoli, L. Lecture: profile of risks and benefits of new antiepileptic drugs in brain tumor-related epilepsy. Neurol Sci 32 (Suppl 2), 259–262 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10072-011-0801-3

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