Researchers have identified biomarkers that can help predict the likelihood that a patient’s glioma will become malignant. This information could someday be used to shape treatments better suited to an individual patient’s needs. The study was led by Henry Ford Health System's Department of Neurosurgery and Department of Public Health Sciences and published today in Cell Reports.
For the study, researchers analyzed 200 brain tumor samples from 77 patients with diffuse glioma harboring IDH mutation. They compared the samples from the patients’ initial diagnosis with those from their disease recurrence, focusing on a change in DNA methylation previously revealed to be indicative of a poor outcome.
In this study, the researchers were able to identify a set of epigenetic biomarkers that can predict which tumors are likely to recur with a more aggressive tumor type upon first diagnosis.
"This research presents a set of testable DNA-methylation biomarkers that may help clinicians predict if someone's brain tumor is heading in a more or less aggressive direction, essentially illustrating the behavior of a patient's disease," says James Snyder, D.O., study co-author and neuro-oncologist, Henry Ford Department of Neurosurgery and Hermelin Brain Tumor Center. "If we can identify which brain tumors will have a more aggressive course at the point of initial diagnosis then hopefully we can change the disease trajectory and improve care for our patients."