Patrick Y. Wen

TL;DR: The authors found that approximately 5% of patients with malignant gliomas have a family history of glioma and most of these familial cases are associated with rare genetic syndromes, such as neurofibromatosis types 1 and 2, the Li−Fraumeni syndrome (germ-line p53 mutations associated with an increased risk of several cancers), and Turcot's syndrome (intestinal polyposis and brain tumors).

TL;DR: The recognition that contrast enhancement is nonspecific and may not always be a true surrogate of tumor response and the need to account for the nonenhancing component of the tumor mandate that new criteria be developed and validated to permit accurate assessment of the efficacy of novel therapies.

TL;DR: Bvacizumab, alone or in combination with irinotecan, was well tolerated and active in recurrent glioblastoma in a phase II, multicenter, open-label, noncomparative trial.

TL;DR: This study provides insight into different mechanisms of action of this class of drugs in recurrent glioblastoma patients and suggests that the timing of combination therapy may be critical for optimizing activity against this tumor.

TL;DR: There is definite hope that by 2020, new cocktails of drugs will be available to target the key molecular pathways involved in gliomas and reduce their mortality and morbidity, a positive development for patients, their families, and medical professionals alike.