Genetic signature of adult gliomas and correlation with MRI features

Abstract

In recent years the amount of information concerning the genetics and the biology of gliomas, and particularly of glioblastoma multiforme, increased steadily. Such an increase has been paralleled by the technological progress of MRI. The merging of these scientific areas, as summarized in this review, is helping the stratification of glioma patients for clinical trials and their clinical follow-up. Although available therapeutic options appear limited in number, it is likely that in the next 5 years, both as a consequence of the increased knowledge due to genomic sequencing of hundreds of glioblastoma specimens and to continuous improvements of MRI, new perspectives will be available for these patients, with a sizable impact on their prognosis.

Keywords::

• EGF receptor amplification
• genetic marker
• glioma
• loss of heterozygosity
• methylation
• MRI
• mutation
• prognosis

Financial & competing interests disclosure

This work was supported by grants from the Ministero della Salute to Maria Grazia Bruzzone and Gaetano Finocchiaro; from AIRC and Fondo di Gio to Gaetano Finocchiaro. The authors have no other relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript apart from those disclosed.

No writing assistance was utilized in the production of this manuscript.