ABSTRACT
Introduction Since Lhermitte and Duclos first described a neuronal tumor of the cerebellum in 1920, the field of neuronal and mixed neuronal-glial neoplasms has been fraught with controversy. One reason is that until recently neurologists and neuropathologists have had a strong bias against the diagnosis of neuronal neoplasm because of the view that all neurons were postmitotic and neuronal precursors did not exist in the adult brain. Current evidence indicates that this is untrue and may lead neuropathologists to reconsider this preconception. A second reason has been that glial tumors may infiltrate cerebral cortex widely, and it often becomes difficult to distinguish neurons that are trapped within a glial tumor from neurons that are themselves neoplastic.
