Clinical experience suggests that application of the fundamental principles of rehabilitation medicine can improve the care of patients with cancer. Despite the high incidence of neurological and functional deficits in patients affected by brain tumours (BTs), rehabilitation treatment of this population is not as well established as it is for patients with other neurological conditions. To assess functional outcome in brain tumour inpatients who underwent early rehabilitation after surgery. 75 patients who had undergone neurosurgery for primary BTs and 75 patients affected by stroke were enrolled in a case-control study. All patients were evaluated by means of a core set of clinical scales (Functional Independence Measure, Sitting Balance score, Standing Balance score, Hauser Index, Massachusetts General Hospital Functional Ambulation Classification). Patients were evaluated before the beginning (T0) and at the end (T1) of rehabilitation treatment. The neurorehabilitation programme consisted of individual 60-min sessions of treatment, administered once a day, six days a week, for four consecutive weeks. Speech therapy was included when aphasia was diagnosed. All the measures of outcome were indicative of substantial improvements for neuro-oncological and for stroke patients (P = 0.000). Analysis of subgroups showed that patients affected by meningioma achieved better results (in efficiency terms) as regards independence in activities of daily living (P = 0.02) and mobility (P = 0.04) compared with patients affected by glioblastoma or stroke. Rehabilitation after surgery can improve functional outcome, justifying the delivery of rehabilitation services, even during the acute phase, to BTs inpatients, irrespective of tumour type.

The functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) blood oxygenation level-dependent (BOLD) signal is regularly used to assign neuronal activity to cognitive function. Recent analyses have shown that the local field potential (LFP) gamma power is a better predictor of the fMRI BOLD signal than spiking activity. However, LFP gamma power and spiking activity are usually correlated, clouding the analysis of the neural basis of the BOLD signal. We show that changes in LFP gamma power and spiking activity in the primary visual cortex (V1) of the awake primate can be dissociated by using grating and plaid pattern stimuli, which differentially engage surround suppression and cross-orientation inhibition/facilitation within and between cortical columns. Grating presentation yielded substantial V1 LFP gamma frequency oscillations and significant multi-unit activity. Plaid pattern presentation significantly reduced the LFP gamma power while increasing population multi-unit activity. The fMRI BOLD activity followed the LFP gamma power changes, not the multi-unit activity. Inference of neuronal activity from the fMRI BOLD signal thus requires detailed a priori knowledge of how different stimuli or tasks activate the cortical network.

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Documented studies have shown that HLF also significantly reduces the development of various neoplasms such as esophageal, lung, bladder, and colon cancer. 9,28 InterestabbreviatioNs bLF = bovine lactoferrin; BrdU = bromodeoxyuridine; BSA = bovine serum albumin; DMEM = Dulbecco's modified Eagle's medium; FACS = fluorescence-activated cell sorting; FCS = fetal calf serum; FRFSE = fast-recovery fast spin-echo; GBM = glioblastoma; HLF = human lactoferrin; NK = natural killer; PBS = phosphate-buffered saline; TMZ = temozolomide. , and 100 mg/ml, and 1 mg/ml) and in combination with TMZ. In in vivo experiments they assessed tumor size reduction in CD1 nude mice carrying an orthotopic GBM xenograft and orally treated with HLF. results Lactoferrin causes growth inhibition in the NMD and FN primary cell lines and in the U87MG continuous cell line. This inhibition seemed to be modulated by the downregulation of cyclin D1 and D4. Western blot and fluorescenceactivated cell sorting analysis showed inhibition of the cell cycle in G0/G1 and G2 phases. When administered in nude mice, HLF (60 mg/kg/day) decreased tumor size about 30%, as shown in both histological analyses and high-field brain MRI. Administration of HLF with TMZ enhanced the effect of chemotherapy both in vitro and in vivo. coNclusioNs This study demonstrated that HLF can inhibit GBM cell growth, suggesting that this nontoxic substance may have a role in potentiating the effect of current TMZ treatment of GBM.

IntroductionLhermitte-Duclos disease or dysplastic gangliocytoma of the cerebellum is an extremely rare tumor. It is a slowly enlarging mass within the cerebellar cortex. The majority of cases are diagnosed in the third or fourth decade of life.Case presentationWe report the case of a 37-year-old Caucasian woman who underwent positron emission tomography-computed tomography with fluorine-18-fluorodeoxyglucose for evaluation of a solitary lung node. No pathological uptake was detected in the solitary lung node but the positron emission tomography-computed tomography of her brain showed intense tracer uptake, suggestive of a malignant neoplasm, in a mass in her left cerebellar lobe. Our patient had experienced two years of occipital headache and movement disorder. Subsequently, magnetic resonance imaging was performed with contrast agent administration, showing a large subtentorial mass in her left cerebellar hemisphere, with compression and dislocation of the fourth ventricle. Metabolic data provided by positron emission tomography and morphological magnetic resonance imaging views were fused in post-processing, allowing a diagnosis of dysplastic gangliocytoma with increased glucose metabolism. Total resection of the tumor was performed and histological examination confirmed the diagnosis of Lhermitte-Duclos disease.ConclusionsOur case indicates that increased uptake of fluorine-18-fluorodeoxyglucose may be misinterpreted as a neoplastic process in the evaluation of patients with Lhermitte-Duclos disease, but supports the usefulness of integrated positron emission tomography-magnetic resonance imaging in the exact pathophysiologic explanation of this disease and in making the correct diagnosis. However, an accurate physical examination and exact knowledge of clinical data is of the utmost importance.