Glioblastoma
Glioblastoma, also known as glioblastoma multiforme (GBM), is the most aggressive cancer that begins within the brain. Initially, signs and symptoms of glioblastoma are non-specific. They may include headaches, personality changes, nausea, and symptoms similar to those of a stroke. Worsening of symptoms often is rapid. This may progress to unconsciousness.
The cause of most cases is unclear. Uncommon risk factors include genetic disorders such as neurofibromatosis and Li–Fraumeni syndrome, and previous radiation therapy. Glioblastomas represent 15% of brain tumors. They can either start from normal brain cells or develop from an existing low-grade astrocytoma. The diagnosis typically is made by a combination of CT scan, MRI scan, and tissue biopsy.
There is no clear way to prevent the disease. Typically, treatment involves surgery, after which chemotherapy and radiation therapy are used. The medication temozolomide is used frequently as part of chemotherapy. High dose steroids may be used to help reduce swelling and decrease symptoms. It is unclear whether trying to remove all or simply most of the cancer is better.
Despite maximum treatment, the cancer usually recurs. The most common length of survival following diagnosis is 12 to 15 months, with fewer than 3% to 5% of people surviving longer than five years. Without treatment, survival is typically three months. It is the most common cancer that begins within the brain and the second most common brain tumor, after meningioma. About 3 per 100,000 people develop the disease a year. It most often begins around 64 years of age and occurs more commonly in males than females. Immunotherapy is being studied.
Common symptoms include seizure, headaches, nausea and vomiting, memory loss, changes to personality, mood or concentration, and localized neurological problems.
Mixed Müllerian tumor
There is debate over the naming of MMMT; the term carcinosarcoma was formerly used to describe lesions with homologous tumors, and "malignant mixed Müllerian tumor" or "mixed mesodermal tumor" was used to describe heterologous tumors. While "carcinosarcoma" now considered standard, "malignant mixed Müllerian tumor" has a lengthy history within gynecological literature and is expected to continue to be used. The naming issue to a certain extent reflects histological characteristics and development of the tumors, in which the different types of tissues are believed to either develop separately and join into a single mass (the "collision" theory), that an adenocarcinoma stimulates the stroma to create a tumor (the "composition" theory), or that the tumor is the result of a stem cell that differentiates into different cell types (the "combination" theory). "Collision" tumors are normally easily recognized and not considered true MMMTs; the "combination" theory is most widely held, and is due to evidence that the tumors develop from a single line of cells, developing in a fashion similar to the fundus of the uterus from the Müllerian duct - first from a stem cell into a population of cells, that then differentiates into epithelial and stromal components.