Prospects of finding pathologically based therapies for epilepsy associated with brain glioma

In recent decades, scientific research on tumor-associated epilepsy has increasingly focused on the study of the biochemical and molecular mechanisms of the brain tumor and peritumoral tissues, opening up new and unprecedented perspectives in understanding the glioma-associated epilepsy pathogenesis and treatment. Evidence suggests that neurons play a central role in tumor growth and cancer cells, in turn, can reconfigure the nervous system and its functions. Extracellular glutamate levels in the tissue around the glioma are up to 100 times higher than those in the healthy brain, as detected. At the same time, the available data support the idea that the excitatory neurotransmitter glutamate is the most significant mediator of the seizures related to glioma. The article reports some aspects of the cerebral glioma pathogenesis. The authors believe that modern antiepileptic drugs can affect the neoplastic process course. A number of antiepileptic drugs having the antitumor potential are presented.