Health Dictionary
Reliable, easy-to-read patient information on common medical conditions — written in plain language, free of jargon, and grounded in current evidence. Browse the most frequent diagnoses, understand what they mean for everyday life, and learn which steps and questions help you have a focused conversation with your doctor.
Neurofibroma medical therapy
Introduction
Overview
Overview
The predominant therapy for neurofibroma is surgical resection. Adjunctive chemotherapy and medications such as ACE inhibitors may be required.
Medical Therapy
Medical Therapy
Chemotherapy
- Once a plexiform neurofibroma has undergone malignant transformation, chemotherapy can be used as treatment[1]
Radiation
- Radiation is generally not used as a treatment for plexiform neurofibromas because of concerns that this could actually promote malignant transformation
- There has even been a documented case of a schwannoma being induced from a neurofibroma due to radiation therapy[2]
Medications
- ACE inhibitors have been proposed as a novel treatment of neurofibromas[3]
- ACE inhibitors are currently used to:
- Treat hypertension and congestive heart failure
- Avert remodeling and reinfarction after myocardial infarction
- Ameliorate diabetic nephropathy and other renal diseases
- ACE inhibitors work by indirectly down regulating TGF-beta, which is a growth factor that has been shown to influence the development of tumors[3]
References
References
- ↑ Neurofibroma. Dr Bruno Di Muzio and Dr Maxime St-Amant et al. Radiopaedia.org 2015. http://radiopaedia.org/articles/neurofibroma Accessed on November 17, 2015
- ↑ Isler MH, Fogaça MF, Mankin HJ. (1996). “Radiation induced malignant schwannoma arising in a neurofibroma”. Clinical Orthopaedics and Related Research. 325 (325): 251–5. doi:10.1097/00003086-199604000-00031. PMID 8998885.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Namazi H. (2008). “ACE inhibitors: a novel treatment for neurofibroma”. Clinical Orthopaedics and Related Research. 15 (5): 1538–9. doi:10.1245/s10434-007-9737-5. PMID 18157575.
Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]; Associate Editor(s)-in-Chief: Sara Mohsin, M.D.[2] Shanshan Cen, M.D. [3]