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Neuro-oncology

A new approach to ependymoma subtyping

Nature Reviews Neurology volume 13, pages 512–513 (2017)Cite this article

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Trimethylation of lysine 7 on histone H3 (H3K27me3), as detected by immunohistochemistry, can differentiate subgroups of childhood ependymomas with markedly different prognoses, according to new research published in Acta Neuropathologica. This relatively simple test could aid the tailoring of treatment to ensure that children with low-risk tumours are not subjected to unnecessarily aggressive therapy.

“Childhood posterior fossa ependymomas (EPN_PF) are molecularly segregated into group A and group B on the basis of DNA methylation signatures,” explains Sriram Venneti, who led the new study with Alexander Judkins. “Patients with EPN_PFA exhibit a dismal prognosis and respond best to complete resection combined with radiotherapy, whereas patients with EPN_PFB have a better prognosis and do not show recurrence even without radiotherapy.”

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References

  1. Panwalkar, P. et al. Immunohistochemical analysis of H3K27me3 demonstrates global reduction in group-A childhood posterior fossa ependymoma and is a powerful predictor of outcome. Acta Neuropathol. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00401-017-1752-4 (2017)

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  1. Heather Wood
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Bayliss, J. et al. Lowered H3K27me3 and DNA hypomethylation define poorly prognostic pediatric posterior fossa ependymomas. Sci. Transl. Med. 8, 366ra161 (2016)

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Wood, H. A new approach to ependymoma subtyping. Nat Rev Neurol 13, 512–513 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrneurol.2017.114

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