Low-grade gliomas: introduction and overview.

This issue of the Journal of Neuro-Oncology is devoted to recent investigations of low-grade gliomas. The purpose of this issue is not to debate the relative merits and liabilities of different management strategies for low-grade gliomas, but to present new data concerning novel and innovative approaches to evaluating these lesions. The common theme of many of these reports represents a departure from grading systems that primarily depend on a morphology-based analysis from light microscopy to classify these tumors. The purpose of this review is to present the reasoning behind the selection of authors for this issue of the Journal of Neuro-Oncology and to provide a format for presentation of new ideas concerning these interesting tumors. It is clear that standard classification systems that address only the morphological characteristics of tumor cells can not adequately represent the wide variation in biological activity that is found with these lesions. It is hoped that these articles will stimulate further interest and research into low-grade gliomas that will one day lead to more effective therapy.