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OBJECTIVE Poor pain control has a negative impact on postoperative recovery and patient satisfaction. However, overzealous pain management, particularly with opioids, can confound serial neurological assessments, increase morbidity, and predispose patients to long-term dependence. Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) are effective in treating postoperative pain and can limit opioid intake, but their use has been limited in patients undergoing craniotomy for brain tumor resection due to concerns of an increased hemorrhage risk. Herein, the authors aim to 1) address the safety of NSAID use in the immediate postoperative setting and 2) determine whether NSAID administration decreases opioid use following craniotomy for tumor resection in adult patients. METHODS The authors conducted a retrospective cohort study of patients 18 years and older with an estimated glomerular filtration rate ≥ 60 ml/min/body surface area who had undergone craniotomy for tumor resection at their institution between 2019 and 2021. NSAID use in the first 48 hours following surgery was recorded. Primary outcomes were postoperative hemorrhage requiring a return to the operating room before hospital discharge and within 30 days of surgery. Secondary outcomes were more-than-minimal hemorrhage that did not require reoperation, acute kidney injury, and total opioid use within 48 hours after craniotomy. RESULTS Among 1765 reviewed patient records, 1182 were eligible for inclusion in this analysis. Amid these records were 114 patients (9.6%) who had received at least one dose of an NSAID within 48 hours of their craniotomy. Four (0.3%) patients experienced bleeding requiring a return to operating room, one of whom was from the NSAID-treated group (RR 3.12, 95% CI 0.33–29.77, p = 0.30). No significant difference in nonoperative intracranial hemorrhage (RR 1.34, 95% CI 0.54–3.35, p = 0.53), postoperative acute kidney injury, or clinically significant extracranial bleeding was found between the NSAID and no-NSAID groups. Patients in the NSAID group had significantly higher oral morphine equivalent use (median 68 vs 30, p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS Postoperative NSAID use following craniotomy for tumor resection was not associated with an increased risk of hemorrhage requiring a return to the operating room. The authors noted higher opioid use in the patients treated with NSAIDs, which may reflect underlying reasons for the decision to treat patients with NSAIDs in the immediate postoperative period. These data warrant further investigation of NSAIDs as a safe, opioid-sparing postoperative pain management strategy in patients with normal kidney function who are undergoing intracranial tumor resection.

The AANS/CNS Section on Tumors was founded 40 years ago in 1984 to assist in the education of neurosurgeons interested in neuro-oncology, and serves as a resource for other national organizations regarding the clinical treatment of nervous system tumors. The Section on Tumors was the first national physicians’ professional organization dedicated to the study and treatment of patients with brain and spine tumors. Over the past 40 years, the Section on Tumors has built solid foundations, including establishing the tumor section satellite meetings, founding the Journal of Neuro-Oncology (the first medical journal dedicated to brain and spine surgical oncology), advancing surgical neuro-oncology education and research, promoting neurosurgical involvement in neuro-oncology clinical trials, and advocating for patients with brain and spine tumors. This review provides a synopsis of the Section on Tumors’ history, its challenges, and its opportunities, drawing on the section’s archives and input from the 17 section chairs who led it during its first 40 years.

Abstract BACKGROUND Diffuse hemispheric glioma (DHG) is an uncommon infiltrating glioma, defined in the World Health Organization 2021 guidelines by a mutation in the H3F3A gene at codon 34 (H3.G34). DHG primarily affects children and young adults. Due to its rarity, there is paucity of knowledge regarding factors affecting overall survival (OS). We retrospectively assessed our institutional experience and present a review of the literature. METHODS We searched our institution’s pathology records to identify six cases of DHG. Demographic, clinical, diagnostic, treatment, and outcome data were recorded. We next searched for published articles regarding DHG cases via PubMed through May 2023. Four-hundred-fifty-four published individual cases of H3.G34 glioma were identified, 204 of which were hemispheric/supratentorial tumors with OS data reported, providing a combined 210 cases for analysis. 132 of these cases included MGMT promoter methylation status. 111 included extent of surgical resection. Kaplan-Meier and Cox regression survival analysis was performed. RESULTS Age range for DHG patients was 7-66 years (median 17). Median OS was 18.5 months (95% CI, 17-25). Greater extent of surgical resection and presence of MGMT promoter methylation were associated with better prognosis. Median OS for biopsy alone was 12 months (95% CI, 10-NA), subtotal resection was 16 months (95% CI, 14-23), and gross total resection was 27 months (95% CI 23-NA) – log-rank p&lt; 0.001. OS for MGMT promoter unmethylated was 14 months (95% CI 12-22), MGMT promoter methylated was 24 months (95% CI, 17-30) – log-rank p=0.028. Contrary to previous reports, patient age was not found to impact prognosis (using 18, 21, and 40 years as cutoffs or as a continuous variable with Cox regression). CONCLUSION Extent of surgical resection and MGMT promoter methylation status are important prognostic factors for DHG. Unlike many primary brain tumors, survival does not appear to be significantly impacted by age.

Abstract Glioblastoma (GBM) is the most common and aggressive form of brain tumor in adults. Despite maximal surgical resection, irradiation, and chemotherapy, median overall survival (OS) for recurrent GBM (rGBM) remains at only 30 weeks. GBM tumors have an immune-suppressive microenvironment with low numbers of tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs). Interleukin 7 (IL-7) plays a key role in T cell homeostasis and survival, with IL-7 inducing T cell expansion in lymphopenic conditions. Efineptakin alfa (NT-I7), a long-acting IL-7, has been shown to increase effector CD8 T cells and reduce suppressor T-regulatory cells in murine GBM models, with subsequently improved OS. We recently completed a Phase I study in newly diagnosed GBM patients which showed that NT-I7 is safe, well-tolerated, and increased absolute lymphocyte counts (ALCs), and determined maximum tolerated dose for Phase II. We hypothesized that NT-I7 may not only mitigate GBM treatment-associated immune suppression, but also potentiate the effect of immune checkpoint blockade, leading to an increase in TILs and improved survival. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the safety and efficacy of combining NT-I7 and pembrolizumab in rGBM patients. This is an open-label, single arm one-stage Phase II study of NT-I7 and pembrolizumab as neoadjuvant and adjuvant therapy with surgery for adult patients with rGBM. We plan to enroll 30 evaluable patients, including a 6-patient safety run-in. The primary endpoint is the 9-month OS rate. Secondary endpoints include progression-free survival, objective response rate, changes in ALC, and adverse events profile. The correlative endpoints include studies to assess the anti-glioma immune response, changes in T cell subsets and functionality, peripheral cytokine quantification, and immunohistochemical analysis of GBM tissue. Longitudinal cerebrospinal fluid proteomics is optional. This study opened in Jan 2023. Six (6) of the planned thirty (30) patients had been enrolled by time of submission.

Abstract Glioblastoma is the most common primary malignant brain tumor. Despite maximal safe resection, followed by chemoradiation, median survival is 15 months, and 5-year survival is 6.8%. Efficacy of immunotherapy is limited by glioblastoma-mediated immunosuppression. Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are a heterogeneous group of small membrane-bound particles that are released from all cell types. Glioblastoma-derived EVs regulate the tumor microenvironment and tumor progression in a paracrine manner. They also regulate glioblastoma-mediated systemic immunosuppression in an IL6- and PDL1-dependent manner by inducing myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs) ultimately resulting in T cell depletion. Primary cilia are ubiquitous microtubule-based organelles that project from the mother centriole and are present on glioblastoma cells. Inhibition of ciliogenesis–through knockdown of KIF3A, IFT88, or ARL13B (structural ciliary proteins required for ciliogenesis)–abolishes IL6 induction in response to chemoradiation and significantly reduces the induction of MDSCs in normal human donor monocytes exposed to glioblastoma-derived EVs. Inhibition of ciliogenesis does not affect the biophysical properties of EVs but our data instead suggest significant alterations in EV packaging and content in response to ciliary loss. These data suggest a novel role for primary cilia in packaging of EV contents and connects these organelles with tumor EV-mediated immunosuppression in glioblastomas. These findings have potential implications for improving the efficacy of immunotherapy in glioblastoma–a universally fatal disease.

Abstract WSD0922-Fu is an oral, CNS-penetrant, small molecule EGFR inhibitor which potently inhibits EGFR aberrations specific to non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and high-grade astrocytoma (HGA). MC1914 (NCT04197934) is a first-in-human phase 1 trial in patients with EGFR aberrant recurrent HGA and NSCLC. Adult patients with either recurrent EGFR mutant NSCLC with CNS metastases or recurrent EGFR aberrant HGA were enrolled and treated across six cohorts (40 mg once daily to 320 mg twice daily, 28-day cycles) to determine the maximum tolerated dose (MTD). 25 patients (17 HGA, 8 NSCLC) were enrolled (median age = 57 years; 24% female; 36% ECOG 0). All patients with HGA received prior radiation and temozolomide. All patients with NSCLC had previous disease progression on EGFR inhibitor therapy (prior osimertinib 88%). The median duration of WSD0922-Fu exposure among all patients was 55 days (range 3 to &gt;279 days) [NSCLC median = 131 days; HGA median = 51 days]. Common treatment-related adverse events are comparable to other EGFR inhibitors (fatigue, acneiform rash, diarrhea, nausea, pruritis). At Cycle 1 Day 15 for patients treated at MTD (160 mg twice daily), the mean terminal elimination half-life (%CV) in the plasma was 31.6 h (102%) (median 14.5 h). The mean Cmax, Tmax, oral clearance at steady state, and AUC (0-12 h) (%CV) were 4513 ng/mL (50%), 2.0 hr (69%), 6.9 L/hr/m2 (42%), and 28084 h*ng/mL (52%), respectively. Among patients with NSCLC treated at MTD or higher dose levels and with available response data, 100% (5/5) of patients demonstrated clinical benefit (SD + PR) while 60% of patients had partial responses. Intracranial and extracranial efficacy was concordant. Furthermore, prolonged stable disease (9 cycles) was observed in a patient with EGFRvIII mutant GBM. Expansion cohorts are in progress to optimize WSD0922-Fu dose and schedule for future phase 2 development.

Abstract PURPOSE For large brain metastases, it is unknown whether single fraction stereotactic radiosurgery (sSRS) or multi-fraction stereotactic radiosurgery (fSRS) is optimal. We aimed to compare rates of local progression and necrosis between sSRS and fSRS for large brain metastases. METHODS Patients with intact or resected brain metastases with a target volume ≥ 4.2 cc (corresponding to a diameter ≥ 2 cm) treated with Gamma Knife (GK) or linear accelerator-based SRS from 2014-2022 were included in this retrospective review. RESULTS A total of 343 large brain metastases in 276 patients were included; 171 lesions were treated with sSRS (96% with GK) and 172 lesions with fSRS (100% with linear accelerator). Median lesion volume was 19.8 cc and 8.4 cc for fSRS and sSRS, respectively. Resection was performed prior to SRS in 228 (66%), with the remaining 115 metastases treated intact. There was no difference in rate of local progression between sSRS versus fSRS, or between resected versus intact targets (p &gt;0.8 for both). Cumulative incidence of local progression (with death as a competing risk) at 1 and 3 years for patients receiving sSRS was 24% and 30%, respectively, compared to 22% and 34% for fSRS. FSRS was associated with significantly higher rates of necrosis than sSRS (HR 5.58, 2.38-13.08, p &lt; 0.001). This association remained significant after controlling for target volume. Cumulative incidence of necrosis (with death as a competing risk) at 1 and 3 years for patients receiving sSRS was 1% and 3%, respectively, compared to 10% and 18% for fSRS. Necrosis rates were significantly higher with fSRS for both intact and resected targets (P &lt; 0.02 for both). CONCLUSION While local control for large resected or intact brain metastases appears similar after sSRS or fSRS, this retrospective study shows higher rates of necrosis after fSRS. Prospective validation is needed.

Abstract INTRODUCTION Glioblastoma (GBM) is the most common primary malignant brain tumor and has a poor clinical outcome. Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are promising biomarkers to assist the differential diagnosis between pseudoprogression and true tumor progression. We aimed to identify non-tumor plasma EV markers that predicted GBM occurrence using trained multiple tree-based machine learning algorithms. METHODS We included plasma samples of 40 GBM and 40 non-GBM (20 brain metastasis, 20 normal donors). Spectral flow cytometry was performed to determine plasma EV subpopulation frequency based on CD9,CD81,CD63,CD11b,CD45,CD31, and CD41a expression. Multiparametric t-SNE and FlowSOM analysis clustered plasma EVs based on these markers. Decision trees and random forest classifiers were trained and tested to predict the disease status (GBM vs non-GBM) based on plasma EV subpopulations. RESULTS Compared to non-GBM, GBM had increased frequency of CD9+ EVs (64.52% vs 40.69%, p&lt; 0.0001), CD9+CD63-CD81- EVs (54.45% vs 37.26%, p&lt; 0.0001) and myeloid-derived EVs (CD9+CD11b+ EVs, 20.77% vs 12.48%, p = 0.0241). In the decision tree analysis, low frequency of CD9+ EVs was found in 44% of all cases and represented a chance of 75% to be classified as non-GBM cases. An algorithm based on random forest analysis (n = 500 trees) using these markers had a sensitivity of 85.71% and specificity of 77.8% with an overall accuracy of 81.25% for identifying GBM. The frequencies of CD9+, CD9+CD63-CD81-, and CD9+CD63+CD81+ were the most critical factors in predicting GBM diagnosis. FlowSOM analysis identified 20 plasma EV subpopulations but had a lower accuracy (62.5%) when combined with our machine learning algorithm. CONCLUSIONS Non-tumor plasma EV expression profile combined with tree-based machine learning demonstrated high accuracy in predicting patient disease status. CD9+ EV frequency was one of the most promising biomarkers to assist in this diagnosis. We will continue to test our established algorithm and further validate our findings in a larger cohort.