HLA Genotyping using Next Generation Sequencing.

From an oncological perspective, the second most common malignancies in children are brain tumors. Despite the recent therapeutic breakthroughs in this field, concerning surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy alike, some cases still have poor outcomes in curability. This is especially the case in patients with high-risk histological types of tumors, and those suffering from residual, remitting and disseminated diseases. Due to the unique neuroanatomical emplacement of brain tumors and their aggressive infiltrative behavior, their total removal remains a demanding task. This can be perceived in the high rates of failure treatment and disease recurrence. Furthermore, the adjacent healthy brain tissue is inevitably damaged in the surgical process of effectively removing these tumors. Thus, stem cell transplantation may be a viable solution for the clinical management of these malignancies, as proven by various recent breakthroughs. In the current concise review, we present the role of next generation sequencing in HLA typing for stem cell transplantation in primary CNS pediatric malignancies.

Secondary extracranial meningiomas extending into the paranasal sinuses.

Meningiomas are well-recognized tumors of the central nervous system. Extracranial meningiomas, secondarily extended into the paranasal sinuses, are rare tumors, comprising approximately 2% of all meningiomas. Extracranial meningiomas of the paranasal sinuses may present a diagnostic and the rapeutic challenge. We present a retrospective review comprising three cases and discuss the clinical presentation, imaging findings,diagnostic evaluation, and treatment options. The localizations included the frontal sinus, the ethmoid sinus, the sphenoid sinus and even the maxillary sinus. Complete surgical resection was achieved in one patient; meanwhile deliberate subtotal tumor resection was performed in the other cases in order to avoid severe neurological damage with sufficient tumor control.