CERN Investigators Publish Paper on the Molecular Classification of Ependymal Tumors
— Categories: CERN Research Articles Posted on May 11, 2015
Ependymal tumors are currently classified and graded solely by histopathology (microscopic examination of tissue in order to study the manifestations of disease). This classification, however, is limited on predicting patients’ outcome.
This study was a collaborative effort and partially funded by the CERN Foundation. The goal of this study was to establish a uniform molecular classification using DNA methylation profiling. Nine molecular subgroups were identified in a large cohort of 500 tumors (including tissue samples obtained through the CERN Foundation tissue study), 3 in each anatomical compartment of the CNS: spine, posterior fossa, supratentorial. Two supratentorial subgroups are characterized by prototypic fusion genes involving RELA and YAP1, respectively.
The molecular classification proposed outperforms the current histopathological classification and thus might serve as a basis for the next World Health Organization classification of CNS tumors.