Meningiomas do not show an angiogenic switch involving VEGF and/or hepatocyte growth factor/scatter factor, as has previously been found in gliomas. Nevertheless, the biological activity of VEGF and basic fibroblast growth factor in meningiomas suggests that both are potential targets for antiangiogenic therapy in meningiomas of all WHO grades.
Pilocytic astrocytomas classified as WHO grade I typically arise in childhood and upon complete surgical removal carry a favorable prognosis. Children with neurofibromatosis 1 (NF1) have a vastly increased risk for pilocytic astrocytomas, especially for those of the optic nerve. Using 4 intragenic NF1 microsatellite markers, we examined losses of NF1 alleles on the long arm of chromosome 17 in 12 NF1-associated and 25 sporadic pilocytic astrocytomas. The TP53 gene region on the short arm of chromosome 17 was also examined in these tumors using 3 markers. Loss of 1 NF1 allele was detected in 11 of 12 (92%) informative NF1-associated pilocytic astrocytomas. In contrast, only 1 of 24 informative (4%) sporadic pilocytic astrocytomas exhibited allelic loss in the NF1 region. Among the 11 NF1-associated tumors with NF1 loss, 5 had also lost alleles on 17p. The high rate of NF1 allele loss in NF1-associated pilocytic astrocytomas suggests a tumor initiating or promoting action of the NF1 gene in these patients. On the other hand, the much lower rate of NF1-allele loss in sporadic pilocytic astrocytomas argues for only minor importance of NF1 in that patient group. The present data support different mechanisms in the formation of NF1-associated and sporadic pilocytic astrocytomas.
We have recently reported that fetal BD IX-rat brain cells (FBC), transferred to long-term culture after a transplacental pulse of EtNU on the 18th day of gestation, undergo neoplastic transformation in vitro ("BT-cell lines"). Tumors developed upon s.c. reimplantation of BT-cells into baby BD IX-rats, appeared histologically as neurinoma-, glioma- or glioblastoma-like, and frequently as pleiomorphic neoplasms. In spite of a more atypic cellular morphology, these tumors grossly resembled the different types of neuroectodermal rat neoplasms induced by EtNU in vivo. Like the neoplastic cell culture lines derived from EtNU-induced, neuroectodermal BD IX-rat tumors ("V-cell lines"), the BT-lines contained multipolar glia-like cells, but also flat cells with fewer and shorter cytoplasmic processes, and occasionally giant cells. Both the V- and BT-lines showed different levels of aneuploidy. They contained multiple subpopulations of cells, as reflected, e.g., by plurimodal pulse-cytophotometric DNA distributions. All lines contained, to varying degrees, the nervous system-specific protein S-100, a "marker" not yet expressed in FBC. There was no indication of more than borderline neurotransmitter activity, suggesting that proliferating (precursor) cells of glial lineages may preferentially undergo malignant transformation after exposure to EtNU during this stage of brain development.
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