Updates from the Neuro-Oncology Section of the 2015 American Neurological Association Annual Meeting

The American Neurological Association (ANA) held its annual meeting in Chicago, IL, USA on 27–29 September 2015. The Scientific Programming Advisory Committee was chaired by Dr S Pleasure from the University of California-San Francisco (CA, USA). The Neuro-Oncology session, chaired by Dr A Pruitt from the University of Pennsylvania (PA, USA) and cochaired by Dr J Laterra from Johns Hopkins University (MD, USA), was held on 27 September 2015. Speakers included Dr D Wainwright (Northwestern University, IL, USA), Dr N Kolb (University of Utah, UT, USA), Dr A Nath (NINDS/NIH, MD, USA), Dr D Franz (Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, OH, USA) and Dr R Lukas (University of Chicago, IL, USA). A summary of key presentations from the Neuro-Oncology section of the 2015 American Neurological Association annual meeting is reported. Preclinical and clinical advances in the use of immunotherapies for the treatment of primary and metastatic CNS tumors are covered. Particular attention is paid to the enzyme indoleamine dioxygenase and the immune checkpoints CTLA4 and PD1 and their ligands. Specific nervous system toxicities associated with novel immunotherapies are also discussed. The recent success of targeting the mTOR pathway in the neurocutaneous syndrome tuberous sclerosis is detailed. Finally, important early steps in our understanding of the common toxicity of chemotherapy induced neuropathy are reviewed.

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