Dr. Kaitlyn Melnick (Gainesville, USA) and colleagues contribute an article entitled “Glioma Immunotherapy: Advances and Challenges for Spinal Cord Gliomas.” In this article, the authors summarize the current status of immunotherapy in gliomas and challenges when attempting to apply immunotherapy to spinal cord gliomas. Dr. Chi Heon Kim (Seoul, Korea) provides an editorial about the future of intramedullary tumor therapy.

Dr. Narihito Nagoshi (Tokyo, Japan) and colleagues present an article entitled “Remnant Tumor Margin as Predictive Factor for Its Growth After Incomplete Resection of Cervical Dumbbell-Shaped Schwannomas” In this article, the authors investigate the risk factors for remnant tumor growth and identify the proximal margin as a significant predictor. Dr. Toshiki Endo (Sendai, Japan) provides editorial commentary on this article about the complexity of the surgeon’s decision-making when complete tumor resection is challenging.

Dr. Anne Versteeg (Utrecht, Netherlands) and colleagues present an article entitled “Steroids in the management of preoperative neurological deficits in metastatic spine disease: results from the EPOSO study.” In this article, the authors analyze the effect of steroids on preoperative neurological function in patients with metastatic epidural spinal cord compression. Stabilization or improvement of preoperative neurological function occurred in 50% of patients. Dr. John H. Shin (Boston, USA) provides editorial commentary on this article about the advantages and disadvantages of steroid therapy in spine oncology patients.

Dr. Meic H. Schmidt (Albuquerque, USA) and colleagues contribute an article entitled “Frailty Status Is a More Robust Predictor Than Age of Spinal Tumor Surgery Outcomes: A NSQIP Analysis of 4,662 Patients” The results of this article suggest that the Modified Frailty Index-5 may be clinically used for preoperative risk stratification of spinal tumor patients. Dr. Moon-Jun Sohn (Ilsan, Korea) provides editorial commentary on this article.

The Neurospine editor Dr. Michael G. Fehlings (Toronto, Canada) and Dr. Martin N. Stienen (St.Gallen, Switzerland) provide two editorials about a recent publication, according to which severe spinal cord injury patients were able to walk again following implantation of an electrical stimulation device (Nat Med 2022;28:260-71.). Both editors comment on the future directions of implantable devices for spinal cord injuries and the limitations of current research.

AANS/CNS Section on Disorders of the Spine and Peripheral Nerves (DSPN)-Neurospine Spine and Spinal Cord Tumors

Neurospine Open access articles are now available at  http://e-neurospine.org