Gliomas are the most common type of primary intracranial tumors. Some glioma subtypes cause significant mortality and morbidity that are disproportionate to their relatively rare incidence. A very small proportion of glioma cases can be attributed to inherited genetic disorders. Many potential risk factors for glioma have been studied to date, but few provide explanation for the number of brain tumors identified. The most significant of these factors includes increased risk due to exposure to ionizing radiation, and decreased risk with history of allergy or atopic disease. The potential effect of exposure to cellular phones has been studied extensively, but the results remain inconclusive. Recent genomic analyses, using the genome-wide association study (GWAS) design, have identified several inherited risk variants that are associated with increased glioma risk. The following chapter provides an overview of the current state of research in the epidemiology of intracranial glioma.
Glioma diagnosis is based on histomorphology and grading; however, such classification does not have predictive clinical outcome after glioblastomas have developed. To date, no bona fide biomarkers that significantly translate into a survival benefit to glioblastoma patients have been identified. We previously reported that the IDH mutant G-CIMP-high subtype would be a predecessor to the G-CIMP-low subtype. Here, we performed a comprehensive DNA methylation longitudinal analysis of diffuse gliomas from 77 patients (200 tumors) to enlighten the epigenome-based malignant transformation of initially lower-grade gliomas. Intra-subtype heterogeneity among G-CIMP-high primary tumors allowed us to identify predictive biomarkers for assessing the risk of malignant recurrence at early stages of disease. G-CIMP-low recurrence appeared in 9.5% of all gliomas, and these resembled IDH-wild-type primary glioblastoma. G-CIMP-low recurrence can be characterized by distinct epigenetic changes at candidate functional tissue enhancers with AP-1/SOX binding elements, mesenchymal stem cell-like epigenomic phenotype, and genomic instability. Molecular abnormalities of longitudinal G-CIMP offer possibilities to defy glioblastoma progression.
No abstract
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
hi@scite.ai
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.