Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • News & Views
  • Published:

Neuro-oncology

In search of molecular markers of glioma in elderly patients

Elderly patients represent a growing proportion of individuals with malignant glioma, but are often excluded from trials owing to their poor prognosis. In a new study, researchers have investigated molecular markers of glioma specifically in elderly patients—are these markers of clinical use?

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Relevant articles

Open Access articles citing this article.

Access options

Buy this article

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Figure 1: Pathogenetic and epigenetic evolution of glioma in adults.

References

  1. Wiestler, B. et al. Malignant astrocytomas of elderly patients lack favorable molecular markers: an analysis of the NOA-08 study collective. Neuro Oncol. http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/neuonc/not043.

  2. Wick, W. et al. Temozolomide chemotherapy alone versus radiotherapy alone for malignant astrocytoma in the elderly: the NOA-08 randomised, phase 3 trial. Lancet Oncol. 13, 707–715 (2012).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Malmström, A. et al. Temozolomide versus standard 6-week radiotherapy versus hypofractionated radiotherapy in patients older than 60 years with glioblastoma: the Nordic randomised, phase 3 trial. Lancet Oncol. 13, 916–926 (2012).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Agnihotri, S. et al. Alkylpurine–DNA–N-glycosylase confers resistance to temozolomide in xenograft models of glioblastoma multiforme and is associated with poor survival in patients. J. Clin. Invest. 122, 253–266 (2012).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Dittmann, L. M. et al. Downregulation of PRDX1 by promoter hypermethylation is frequent in 1p/19q-deleted oligodendroglial tumours and increases radio- and chemosensitivity of Hs683 glioma cells in vitro. Oncogene 31, 3409–3418 (2012).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Turcan, S. et al. IDH1 mutation is sufficient to establish the glioma hypermethylator phenotype. Nature 483, 479–483 (2012).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Schwartzentruber, J. et al. Driver mutations in histone H3.3 and chromatin remodelling genes in paediatric glioblastoma. Nature 482, 226–231 (2012).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Sturm, D. et al. Hotspot mutations in H3F3A and IDH1 define distinct epigenetic and biological subgroups of glioblastoma. Cancer Cell 22, 425–437 (2012).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Bjerke, L. et al. Histone H3.3 mutations drive pediatric glioblastoma through upregulation of MYCN. Cancer Discov. 3, 515–519 (2013).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Killela, P. J. et al. TERT promoter mutations occur frequently in gliomas and a subset of tumors derived from cells with low rates of self-renewal. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 110, 6021–6026 (2013).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

This work has been supported by the Swiss National Science Foundation, the Swiss Cancer League, and the Swiss Bridge Award 2011.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Roger Stupp.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The authors declare no competing financial interests.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Hegi, M., Stupp, R. In search of molecular markers of glioma in elderly patients. Nat Rev Neurol 9, 424–425 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrneurol.2013.127

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nrneurol.2013.127

This article is cited by

Search

Quick links

Nature Briefing: Cancer

Sign up for the Nature Briefing: Cancer newsletter — what matters in cancer research, free to your inbox weekly.

Get what matters in cancer research, free to your inbox weekly. Sign up for Nature Briefing: Cancer