| Abstract: |
The microscope - the classical tool for the investigation of cells and tissues - remains the basis for the classification of tumors throughout the body. Nowhere has this been more true than in the grading of astrocytomas. In spite of the fact that our parents warned us not to judge a book by its cover, we have continued to assume that adult and pediatric malignant gliomas that look the same, will have the same mutations, and thus respond to the same therapy. Rapid advances in molecular biology have permitted us the opportunity to go inside the cell and characterize the genetic events that underlie the true molecular heterogeneity of adult and pediatric brain tumors. In this paper, we will discuss some of the important clinical differences between pediatric and adult gliomas, with a focus on the molecular analysis of these different age groups. © 2012 Future Medicine Ltd. |
| Keywords: |
adult; child; gene mutation; clinical feature; review; molecular genetics; brain tumor; glioma; brain neoplasms; platelet derived growth factor alpha receptor; epidermal growth factor receptor; basic helix-loop-helix transcription factors; age factors; receptor, epidermal growth factor; microsatellite dna; protein p53; childhood cancer; methyltransferase; tumor suppressor proteins; phosphatidylinositol 3,4,5 trisphosphate 3 phosphatase; pten phosphohydrolase; dna repair enzymes; ras protein; microsatellite marker; age distribution; chromosome aberrations; genes, ras; molecular biology; pten; epidermal growth factor receptor 3; dna modification methylases; astrocytoma; tumor classification; b raf kinase; braf; ras; p53; receptors, platelet-derived growth factor; genetic heterogeneity; genes, p53; microsatellite repeats; platelet derived growth factor beta receptor; isocitrate dehydrogenase; isocitrate dehydrogenase 1; phosphatidylinositol 3-kinases; high-grade glioma; low-grade glioma; malignant astrocytoma; methylguanine methyltransferase; egf receptor; pdgf receptor
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