442
Views
86
CrossRef citations to date
0
Altmetric
Neurooncology

Leptomeningeal Metastasis

, M.D. & , M.D.
Pages 145-154 | Published online: 11 Jun 2009
 

Abstract

Leptomeningeal metastasis is a common complication of cancer. Often the diagnosis can be difficult, but early diagnosis and aggressive treatment can prevent irreversible neurologic deficits. Diagnosis is usually established by the demonstration of malignant cells in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) or by the presence of enhancing tumor nodules on cranial or spinal MRI. Treatment may require focal radiotherapy to symptomatic sites accompanied by chemotherapy. Intra-CSF chemotherapy requires normal CSF flow dynamics and is typically limited to the use of methotrexate, cytarabine or thiotepa. Intrathecal chemotherapy is rarely efficacious, except for hematopoietic neoplasms and, to a lesser extent, breast cancer. Increasingly, systemic chemotherapy is recognized as efficacious in the treatment of leptomeningeal metastasis in part because it has the ability to penetrate into bulky disease seen on neuroimaging. The optimum choice of therapy depends upon a thorough assessment of the neurologic extent of disease, which should include complete neuraxis imaging. Patients with extensive bulky disease may be best treated with systemic chemotherapy, whereas those with a positive CSF cytology but negative imaging may be treated with intrathecal chemotherapy and spared the systemic toxicity of intravenous drug. Despite vigorous therapy, many patients do poorly and the median survival is only about four months. Nevertheless, some patients, particularly those with leukemia, lymphoma, and breast cancer, respond and a substantial minority will be alive one to two years after diagnosis.

Log in via your institution

Log in to Taylor & Francis Online

PDF download + Online access

  • 48 hours access to article PDF & online version
  • Article PDF can be downloaded
  • Article PDF can be printed
USD 65.00 Add to cart

Issue Purchase

  • 30 days online access to complete issue
  • Article PDFs can be downloaded
  • Article PDFs can be printed
USD 1,193.00 Add to cart

* Local tax will be added as applicable

Related Research

People also read lists articles that other readers of this article have read.

Recommended articles lists articles that we recommend and is powered by our AI driven recommendation engine.

Cited by lists all citing articles based on Crossref citations.
Articles with the Crossref icon will open in a new tab.