DNA topoisomerase IIα predicts progression-free and overall survival in pediatric malignant non-brainstem gliomas
✍ Scribed by Markus Bredel; Ian F. Pollack; Ronald L. Hamilton; Peter Birner; Johannes A. Hainfellner; Josef Zentner
- Publisher
- John Wiley and Sons
- Year
- 2002
- Tongue
- French
- Weight
- 671 KB
- Volume
- 99
- Category
- Article
- ISSN
- 0020-7136
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✦ Synopsis
Abstract
Malignant non‐brainstem glioma (MNBG) is a rare pediatric brain tumor. The prognosis for children harboring this lesion remains largely unpredictable. Assessment of histologic features alone only provides a marginal insight into the biologic behavior of these lesions. Hence, the identification of novel molecular markers capable of characterizing these lesions more accurately with respect to their biologic aggressiveness is definitely needed. Our current study examined the expression of nuclear DNA topoisomerase IIα (TIIα), a novel marker of cell cycle turnover and a determinant of tumor cell resistance to chemotherapy, in a series of 17 archival pediatric MNBGs. TIIα expression was found to extend over a wide range in the study cohort (3.9–69.1%). A cutoff labeling index of 12% was found to define 2 prognostic subgroups (TIIα <12 vs. ≥12) with profoundly different 5‐year progression‐free survival (60% vs. 8%; p = 0.0108, log‐rank test) and overall survival (100% vs. 8%; p = 0.0038) rates. TIIα expression was significantly linked to MIB‐1 antibody labeling of the Ki‐67 nuclear antigen (R = 0.919, p < 0.001). A high TIIα labeling index remained associated with short progression‐free survival (p = 0.022) and overall survival (p = 0.022) in multivariate analysis (Cox regression). In conclusion, considering that TIIα expression was not related to histopathologic grade, biological characteristics as assessed by TIIα labeling may complement the information obtained by tumor morphology as a means of improving the accuracy of patient prognosis prediction. © 2002 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.