Brain Oncology Biology, diagnosis and therapy

The International Meeting on Brain Oncology in Rennes was organised in honor of Jean Pecker, to pay tribute to his contribution to the development of neurological sciences and to take stock of the current state of knowledge on brain tumors, a domain in which the role of neurosurgery has been and will continue to be primordial. During the two-day conference, the major themes of brain oncology studies, both fundamental and clinical, were examined: oncogenesis, tumoral markers and immunology, metabolic and diagnosis imaging, prognostic factors and therapeutic strategies. The large number and high quality of participations resulted in a genuinely synthetic view of current advances in research, of which this book presents the essentials. We have attempted both to preserve the richness of scientific exchanges which occurred and to publish a great many oral and poster communications. The book respects the organization of conference sessions, and thus reflects the importance accorded to glial tumor studies. This may seem disproportionate given their frequency of occurrence in proportion to total numbers of intracranial tumor processes, but their gravity and quasi-total resistance to current therapeutic methods are ample justification. Moreover, this is the domain in which hopes of progress are beginning to appear, and it is becoming possible to envisage treatment based on recently established fundamental knowledge.