Expression of Methylthioadenosine Phosphorylase (MTAP) in Pilocytic Astrocytomas

Background/Objectives: Pilocytic astrocytomas (PAs) are the most frequent astrocytomas in children and adolescents. Methilthioadenosine phosphorylase(MTAP) is a tumor-suppressor gene, the loss of expression of which is associated with a poor prognosis and better response to specific chemotherapy in...

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Published inPathobiology (Basel) Vol. 82; no. 2; pp. 84 - 89
Main Authors Becker, Aline Paixão, Scapulatempo-Neto, Cristovam, Menezes, Weder P., Clara, Carlos, Machado, Hélio R., Oliveira, Ricardo S., Neder, Luciano, Reis, Rui Manuel
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Basel, Switzerland S. Karger AG 01.01.2015
Subjects
Adolescent
Adult
Astrocytoma - enzymology
Astrocytoma - pathology
Brain cancer
Brain tumors
Chemotherapy
Child
Child, Preschool
Children & youth
Female
Humans
Immunohistochemistry
Infant
Leukemia
Lung cancer
Male
Middle Aged
Original Paper
Prognosis
Purine-Nucleoside Phosphorylase - metabolism
Tissue Array Analysis
Tumors
Young Adult
Immunohistochemistry
Glioma
Brain tumors
Pilocytic astrocytoma
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Summary:Background/Objectives: Pilocytic astrocytomas (PAs) are the most frequent astrocytomas in children and adolescents. Methilthioadenosine phosphorylase(MTAP) is a tumor-suppressor gene, the loss of expression of which is associated with a poor prognosis and better response to specific chemotherapy in leukemia and non-small-cell lung cancer. The expression of MTAP in brain tumors remains largely unknown and its biological role in PA is still unexplored. Our aims were to describe the immunohistochemical MTAP expression in a series of PAs and relate it to the clinicopathological features of the patients. Methods: We assessed MTAP expression on immunohistochemistry in 69 pediatric and adult patients with PA in a tissue microarray platform. Results: Retained expression of MTAP was seen in >85% of the tumors compared to in the nonneoplastic adjacent tissue. Only 3 supratentorial tumors showed a complete loss of MTAP expression. No significant association with clinicopathological features or overall survival of the patients was found. Conclusions: MTAP expression is retained in PAs and is not an outcome predictor for these tumors. Nevertheless, a subset of patients with PAs exhibiting a loss of MTAP could potentially benefit from treatment with specific chemotherapy, especially when lesions are recurrent or surgical resection is not recommended.
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ISSN:1015-2008
1423-0291
DOI:10.1159/000430956