Mapping genetic factors in high-grade glioma patients.

BACKGROUND: Tumor location, which serves as a prognostic factor for high-grade gliomas, may reflect the molecular and genetic phenotype of tumor initiate cells and thus predict tumor origin. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to combine radiographic atlases and tumor biomarkers through a voxel-based neuroimaging approach.

METHODS: Preoperative MRIs were collected from 65 newly diagnosed patients with histologically confirmed high-grades gliomas. These samples were analyzed for TP53 mutations and MMP-9.PTEN, MGMT, EGFR and IDH1 statuses using a statistical voxel-based lesion-symptom mapping (VLSM) method, which correlates the anatomical location of HGGs with their molecular profile.

RESULTS: VLSM analysis identified P53, Wild-type IDH and EGFR overexpression mutations in the white matter of the periventricular region in the left hemisphere, which can be predicted by a short overall survival from the time of diagnosis. The lack of MGMT promoter methylation deep in the right frontal lobe region indicates a poor prognosis.

CONCLUSIONS: Our study demonstrates that different molecular phenotypes are related to specific brain regions. In addition, the structural MRI and genetic profile-based analysis of brain regions associated with survival-associated factors could be used in planning glioma operations and clinical survival predictions.