• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.3
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• pp.1333-1337
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• 2014

Background: Astrocytic tumors, the most common primary glial tumors of the central nervous system, are classified from low to high grade according to the degree of anaplasia and presence of necrosis. Despite advances in therapeutic management of high grade astrocytic tumors, prognosis remains poor. In the present study, the frequency and prognostic significance of c-erb-B2 in astrocytic tumors was investigated. Materials and Methods: Records of 72 patients with low- and high-grade astrocytic tumors were evaluated. The expression of C-erbB-2 was determined immunohistochemically and intensity was recorded as 0 to 3+. Tumors with weak staining (1+) or no staining (0) were considered Her-2 negative, while tumors with moderate (2+) and strong (3+) staining were considered Her-2 positive. Results: Of the 72 patients, 41 (56.9%) had glioblastoma (GBM), 10 (13.9%) had diffuse astrocytoma, 15 (20.8%) had anaplastic astrocytoma, 6 (8.3%) had pilocytic astrocytoma. C-erbB-2 overexpression was detected in the tumor specimens of 17 patients (23.6%). Six (8.3%) tumors, all GBMs, exhibited strong staining, 2 (2.7%) specimens, both GBMs, exhibited moderate staining, and 9 specimens, 5 of them GBMs (12.5%), exhibited weak staining. No staining was observed in diffuse astrocytoma and pilocytic astrocytoma specimens. Median overall survival of patients with C-erbB-2 negative and C-erbB-2 positive tumors were 30 months (95%CI: 22.5-37.4 months) and 16.9 months (95%CI: 4.3-29.5 months), respectively (p=0.244). Conclusions: Although there was no difference in survival, C-erbB-2 overexpression was observed only in the GBM subtype.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• v.39 no.2
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• pp.102-108
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• 2006

Objective : The management of diffuse astrocytomas is one of the most controversial areas in clinical neurooncology. There are numerous reviews and editorials outlining the difficulties in the management of these lesions. In this study, we assess the role of Gamma Knife radiosurgery[GKS] for diffuse astrocytomas. Methods : Twenty-three patients with a diffuse astrocytoma were treated with GKS as a primary or adjuvant method from February 1995 to October 2003. The mean marginal dose was $13.6\;[8.5{\sim}17.5]Gy$ and the mean maximal dose was $27.3\;[17.0{\sim}35.0]Gy$. Local control and the pattern of radiologic response were evaluated. The probable factors affecting local control, such as tumor volume, margin dose, previous history of craniotomy or stereotactic biopsy, and the presence or absence of previous radiotherapy were statistically analyzed. The average duration of follow-up was 39.7 [$11.3{\sim}101.5$] months after GKS. Results : Of the 23 lesions treated, 16 lesions [69.6%] were controlled during the follow-up period. The mean progression-free interval was 57.4 months and the 5-year progression-free rate was 68%. Only tumor volume was found to be a statistically significant factor for local control. Smaller tumors were better controlled by GKS; it was significantly effective in tumors with less than $10cm^3$ volume. Conclusion : GKS could be a valuable therapeutic modality both as a primary treatment and as a postoperative adjuvant therapy in some selected cases.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• v.57 no.6
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• pp.469-472
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• 2015

Undifferentiated sarcomas are rarely identified in the intracranial region. A 23-year-old man was admitted with a chief complaint of headache. Initial magnetic resonance images showed signs of low-grade glioma in the frontal lobe. Stereotactic biopsy was performed, and a diagnosis of diffuse astrocytoma was confirmed. Three months later, the patient presented with a high-grade tumor as seen on imaging studies. He underwent total resection of the tumor and histopathological tests identified an undifferentiated sarcoma. The patient died eight months later due to massive tumor bleeding. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of undifferentiated sarcoma arising from low-grade glioma without any chemotherapy or radiotherapy.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• v.30 no.9
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• pp.1115-1119
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• 2001

Objective : Management strategies for pediatric chiasmatic-hypothalamic gliomas(CHG) include surgery, irradiation, chemotherapy and a combination of these modalities. This study was performed in order to compare the efficacy of various methods of treatment and to describe its optimal management. Material and Method : We have reviewed the results of management of 6 children with a diagnosis of CHG, who were observed closely during the last 8 years. The patients were aged 7 months to 15 years. Our patients presented with diencephalic syndrome, endocrine dysfunction, and progressive visual loss. None of these had evidence of neurofibromatosis-1. Treatment consisted of surgery alone(2), surgry and irradiation(2), surgery, irradiation and chemotherapy(1), and surgery and chemotherapy(1). Results : Four children had large exophytic suprasellar tumors and two showed diffuse midline lesions. Obstructive hydrocephalus was present in all patients. Pathologic examination revealed anaplastic astrocytoma in 1 and lowgrade astrocytoma in 5. Two patients, recently treated with radiation therapy following radical subtotal resection, showed significant tumor reductions and good clinical status. Four patients had partial tumor resection. Of these patients, two developed disease stabilization during follow-up period of 7 and 8 years, respectively. Life-threatening complications were noted in remaining two patients. Conclusion : CHG may follow an unpredicatable course and show a various reponse to each treatment modality. Further studies are indicated to define the optimal method of treatment of CHG in childhood.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• v.64 no.1
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• pp.100-109
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• 2021

Objective : Diffuse astrocytic tumour (DAT) is a diffuse infiltrative astrocytoma tumour accompanied by molecular parameters such as the presence or absence of isocitrate dehydrogenase (IDH) gene mutations. Ki-67 is a marker for DAT proliferation, while programmed death ligand 1 (PD-L1) indicates an immune evasion mechanism. This study aimed to analyze the correlation among mutant IDH1 R132H, Ki-67, and PD-L1 immunoexpression in the DAT. Methods : A cross-sectional study was carried out on 30 paraffin blocks of DAT cases. Paraffin block samples consist of grade II (n=14), grade III (n=8), and grade IV (n=8). In this study, the immunohistochemistry-staining of mutant IDH1 R132H, Ki-67, and PD-L1 were carried out to determine the frequency of DAT with IDH1 mutations. Results : Our study shown the frequency of IDH1 mutations in grade II 50.0% (7/14), grade III 37.5% (3/8), and grade IV 12.5% (1/8). Our study also showed a difference in Ki-67 and PD-L1 expression between each the degree of DAT histopathology (p=0.0001 and p=0.002, respectively). There was an association between both mutant IDH1 R132H, and Ki-67 with PD-L1 expression in DAT (p=0.0087 and p=0.0049, respectively). Conclusion : DAT with the mutant IDH1 is frequently observed in grade II and small number of grade III. The expression of wild type IDH1, Ki-67, and PD-L1 were found to be higher in high grade DAT (grade III and grade IV). There is a correlation between each of mutant IDH1 status and Ki-67 with PD-L1 expression in DAT.

• Korean Journal of Radiology
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• v.24 no.8
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• pp.772-783
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• 2023

Objective: Imaging-based survival stratification of patients with gliomas is important for their management, and the 2021 WHO classification system must be clinically tested. The aim of this study was to compare integrative imaging- and pathology-based methods for survival stratification of patients with diffuse glioma. Materials and Methods: This study included diffuse glioma cases from The Cancer Genome Atlas (training set: 141 patients) and Asan Medical Center (validation set: 131 patients). Two neuroradiologists analyzed presurgical CT and MRI to assign gliomas to five imaging-based risk subgroups (1 to 5) according to well-known imaging phenotypes (e.g., T2/FLAIR mismatch) and recategorized them into three imaging-based risk groups, according to the 2021 WHO classification: group 1 (corresponding to risk subgroup 1, indicating oligodendroglioma, isocitrate dehydrogenase [IDH]-mutant, and 1p19q-codeleted), group 2 (risk subgroups 2 and 3, indicating astrocytoma, IDH-mutant), and group 3 (risk subgroups 4 and 5, indicating glioblastoma, IDHwt). The progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) were estimated for each imaging risk group, subgroup, and pathological diagnosis. Time-dependent area-under-the receiver operating characteristic analysis (AUC) was used to compare the performance between imaging-based and pathology-based survival model. Results: Both OS and PFS were stratified according to the five imaging-based risk subgroups (P < 0.001) and three imaging-based risk groups (P < 0.001). The three imaging-based groups showed high performance in predicting PFS at one-year (AUC, 0.787) and five-years (AUC, 0.823), which was similar to that of the pathology-based prediction of PFS (AUC of 0.785 and 0.837). Combined with clinical predictors, the performance of the imaging-based survival model for 1- and 3-year PFS (AUC 0.813 and 0.921) was similar to that of the pathology-based survival model (AUC 0.839 and 0.889). Conclusion: Imaging-based survival stratification according to the 2021 WHO classification demonstrated a performance similar to that of pathology-based survival stratification, especially in predicting PFS.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.14 no.12
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• pp.7261-7264
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• 2013

Recent genome wide sequencing has identified mutations in IDH1/IDH2 predominantly in grade II-III gliomas and secondary glioblastomas which are associated with favorable clinical outcome. These mutations have become molecular markers of significant diagnostic and prognostic relevance in the assessment of human gliomas. In the current study we evaluated IDH1 (R132) and IDH2 (R172) in 32 gliomas of various grades and tumor subtypes. Sequencing analysis revealed R132H mutations in 18.7% tumors, while none of the cases showed IDH2 (R172) mutations. The frequency of IDH1 mutations was higher in females (21.4%) than males (11.1%), and it was significantly higher in younger patients. Histological analyses demonstrated presence of necrosis and micro vascular proliferation in 69% and 75% respectively. Interestingly, IDH1 mutations were predominantly present in non-necrotic tumors as well as in cases showing microvascular proliferation. Of the six IDH1 positive cases, three were glioblastomas (IV), and one each were anaplastic oligoastrocytoma (III), anaplastic oligodendroglioma III (n=1) and diffuse astrocytoma. In conclusion, IDH1 mutations are quite frequent in Indian glioma patients while IDH2 mutations are not observed. Since IDH mutations are associated with good prognosis, their use in routine clinical practice will enable better risk stratification and management of glioma patients.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• v.62 no.3
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• pp.313-320
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• 2019

Brain tumors are the second most common type of structural brain lesion that causes chronic epilepsy. Patients with low-grade brain tumors often experience chronic drug-resistant epilepsy starting in childhood, which led to the concept of long-term epilepsy-associated tumors (LEATs). Dysembryoplastic neuroepithelial tumor and ganglioglioma are representative LEATs and are characterized by young age of onset, frequent temporal lobe location, benign tumor biology, and chronic epilepsy. Although highly relevant in clinical epileptology, the concept of LEATs has been criticized in the neuro-oncology field. Recent genomic and molecular studies have challenged traditional views on LEATs and low-grade gliomas. Molecular studies have revealed that low-grade gliomas can largely be divided into three groups : LEATs, pediatric-type diffuse low-grade glioma (DLGG; astrocytoma and oligodendroglioma), and adult-type DLGG. There is substantial overlap between conventional LEATs and pediatric-type DLGG in regard to clinical features, histology, and molecular characteristics. LEATs and pediatric-type DLGG are characterized by mutations in BRAF, FGFR1, and MYB/MYBL1, which converge on the RAS-RAF-MAPK pathway. Gene (mutation)-centered classification of epilepsy-associated tumors could provide new insight into these heterogeneous and diverse neoplasms and may lead to novel molecular targeted therapies for epilepsy in the near future.

• Radiation Oncology Journal
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.15-20
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• 1992

A total of 20 patients (male: female=10:10, adult:children=8:12) with brainstem tumors had been received radiation therapy in the Department of Radiation Oncology, Yonsei Cancer Center, Yonsei University College of Medicine between 1980 and 1990. Thirteen of 20 patients were treated with conventional radiation therapy (before 1989, 180~200 cGy per fraction, 5 days a week, total dose 4680~5400 cGy), and seven patients were treated with hyperfractionated radiation therapy (in 1990, 100 cGy per fraction, twice daily 10 fractions a week, total dose 7200 cGy). Median follow up Periods for conventional radiation therapy group and hyperfractionated radiation therapy group were 36 months and 10 months, respectively. Four of 20 Patients had histopathologic diagnosis prior to treatment; 3 cases were low grade astrocytoma and 1 case was high grade astrocytoma. Overall 2-year actuarial survival rate was 30%. The prognosis of patients with a longer duration of symptom and sign was better (60%, vs 12%), and the adult (52%) was better than children (14%). There was no significant difference between the focal (29%) and diffuse (26%) type. The initial clinical response was better in the hyperfractionated radiation therapy group. Because of the relatively small number of Patients and short follow up Period in hyperfractionated radiation therapy group, there was no comparison between two group.