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Treatment Options for Leptomeningeal Metastases of Solid Cancers: Literature Review and Personal Experience

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Gamma Knife Neurosurgery in the Management of Intracranial Disorders II

Part of the book series: Acta Neurochirurgica Supplement ((NEUROCHIRURGICA,volume 128))

Abstract

Leptomeningeal metastases (LM) may complicate the clinical course of any solid cancer or hematological malignancy. Diagnosis of such cases requires a multifaceted approach, including careful evaluation of the clinical history, detailed neurological examination, advanced imaging studies, and related laboratory data analysis. Therapeutic options for management of LM have not been standardized yet. Conventional intrathecal chemotherapy with or without involved-field fractionated radiotherapy has only modest efficacy, and the prognosis of most patients remains grim. Therefore, development of new, more aggressive multimodal treatment strategies is definitely needed. Immune checkpoint inhibitors—in particular, molecular targeted therapy—have demonstrated promising results in selected groups of patients. There may be an important role for stereotactic radiosurgery as well. Because organization of prospective randomized multi-institutional trials on treatment of LM of solid cancers may be problematic, practical guidelines for optimal therapeutic strategies in such cases should be established on the basis of integrated results of small-scale prospective and retrospective studies.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Neurosurgery, Shinsuma General Hospital, Kobe, Japan

    Takeshi Kondoh

  2. Department of Oncology, Meiwa Hospital, Nishinomiya, Japan

    Takashi Sonoda

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  1. Takeshi Kondoh
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  2. Takashi Sonoda
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Correspondence to Takeshi Kondoh .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Advanced Techno-Surgery and Department of Neurosurgery, Tokyo Women’s Medical University, Tokyo, Japan

    Mikhail F. Chernov

  2. Gamma Knife Unit, Department of Neurosurgery, and Faculty of Advanced Techno-Surgery, Tokyo Women's Medical University, Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan

    Motohiro Hayashi

  3. Department of Neurosurgery, University of Minnesota Medical School, Minnesota, MN, USA

    Clark C. Chen

  4. Department of Neurosurgery, The University of Texas, MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA

    Ian E. McCutcheon

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Kondoh, T., Sonoda, T. (2021). Treatment Options for Leptomeningeal Metastases of Solid Cancers: Literature Review and Personal Experience. In: Chernov, M.F., Hayashi, M., Chen, C.C., McCutcheon, I.E. (eds) Gamma Knife Neurosurgery in the Management of Intracranial Disorders II. Acta Neurochirurgica Supplement, vol 128. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-69217-9_8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-69217-9_8

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