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. 2016 Aug 26:7:78.
doi: 10.4103/2152-7806.189296. eCollection 2016.

Traumatic brain injury and subsequent glioblastoma development: Review of the literature and case reports

Vineet Tyagi  1 , Jason Theobald  2 , James Barger  2 , Mark Bustoros  2 , N Sumru Bayin  3 , Aram S Modrek  2 , Michael Kader  2 , Erich G Anderer  4 , Bernadine Donahue  5 , Girish Fatterpekar  6 , Dimitris G Placantonakis  7
Affiliations

Traumatic brain injury and subsequent glioblastoma development: Review of the literature and case reports

Vineet Tyagi et al. Surg Neurol Int. .

Abstract

Background: Previous reports have proposed an association between traumatic brain injury (TBI) and subsequent glioblastoma (GBM) formation.

Methods: We used literature searches and radiographic evidence from two patients to assess the possibility of a link between TBI and GBM.

Results: Epidemiological studies are equivocal on a possible link between brain trauma and increased risk of malignant glioma formation. We present two case reports of patients with GBM arising at the site of prior brain injury.

Conclusion: The hypothesis that TBI may predispose to gliomagenesis is disputed by several large-scale epidemiological studies, but supported by some. Radiographic evidence from two cases presented here suggest that GBM formed at the site of brain injury. We propose a putative pathogenesis model that connects post-traumatic inflammation, stem and progenitor cell transformation, and gliomagenesis.

Keywords: Brain tumor; glioblastoma; traumatic brain injury.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Patient 1. Serial magnetic resonance images demonstrate that the glioblastoma arises at the site of encephalomalacia resulting from the brain injury to the left frontal lobe. All images are T2 sequences, except the last one, which is T1 postgadolinium
Figure 2
Figure 2
Patient 2. Serial computed tomography scans spanning a 73-month period show that the glioblastoma in the inferior right frontal lobe developed at the site of the contusion. All images are without contrast, except the last one
Figure 3
Figure 3
Model linking traumatic brain injury to glioblastoma formation. Upon injury to the brain, neural stem cells migrate to the site to enable tissue repair. At the same time, immune cells are recruited. Immune cells release reactive oxygen species (ROS), which can induce mutagenesis and initiate oncogenic transformation of stem cells
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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