Histopathological Findings of the Brain-Tumor Interface

Abstract

  One of the greatest concerns for neurosurgical oncologists is pathological findings of the surgical margin. Learning the pathology of the brain-tumor interface (BTI) in detail has many clinical implications, such as determining of surgical strategies, recognition of the surgical resection limit, selection of post-operative adjuvant treatment, and prognosis prediction.

  In this article, the author provides pathological findings of the BTI of normal brain reactions and the representative brain tumors. In most of the intra-parenchymal tumors, the pathology of the BTI demonstrates infiltrative tumor cells with some differences. On the contrary, most of the extra-parenchymal tumors, except for the atypical/anaplastic meningiomas, demonstrate clear tumor margins. The atypical/anaplastic meningiomas demonstrate a specific invasion pattern.

  These studies suggest the many clinical implications for achieving maximum safety in brain tumors resections.