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To what extent will 5-aminolevulinic acid change the face of malignant glioma surgery?


Glioma surgery is an essential part of glioma management; however, fully achieving the goal of surgery has been uncommon. The goal of surgery is ‘maximal safe resection’ with the accepted target for maximal being complete resection of the contrast-enhancing tumor. This ideal result was obtained in less than 30% of cases in centers of excellence until a few years ago. The development of fluorescence-guided surgery using 5-aminolevulinic acid has initiated a radical change. Over the past 5 years, various groups have published rates of complete resection of the enhancing tumor that exceed 80%. In the coming years, as the use of the technology expands, complete resection should become a common, predictable result at many centers. Consequently, adjuvant therapies that benefit from resection could play a bigger role, resection could be incorporated as a variable in randomized trials and distant recurrence might become a more common problem.

Click here to view the full article in our partner journal CNS Oncology.