Prognostic significance of histological grading, p53 status, YKL-40 expression, and IDH1 mutations in pediatric high-grade gliomas

The objective of this study was to evaluate, in a series of 43 pediatric high-grade gliomas (21 anaplastic astrocytoma WHO grade III and 22 glioblastoma WHO grade IV), the prognostic value of histological grading and expression of p53 and YKL-40. Moreover, mutational screening for TP53 and IDH1 was performed in 27 of 43 cases. The prognostic stratification for histological grading showed no difference in overall (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS) between glioblastomas and anaplastic astrocytomas. Overexpression of YKL40 was detected in 25 of 43 (58%) cases, but YKL-40 expression was not prognostic in terms of OS and PFS. p53 protein expression was observed in 13 of 43 (31%) cases but was not prognostic. TP53 mutations were detected in five of 27 (18%) cases (four glioblastomas and one anaplastic astrocytoma). Patients with TP53 mutation had a shorter median OS (9 months) and PFS (8 months) than those without mutations (OS, 17 months; PFS, 16 months), although this trend did not reach statistical significance (p = 0.07). IDH1 mutations were not detected in any of the cases analyzed. Our results suggest that in pediatric high-grade gliomas: (i) histological grading does not have strong prognostic significance, (ii) YKL-40 overexpression is less frequent than adult high-grade gliomas and does not correlate with a more aggressive behavior, (iii) TP53 mutations but not p53 expression may correlate with a more aggressive behavior, and (iv) IDH1 mutations are absent. These observations support the concept that, despite identical histological features, the biology of high-grade gliomas in children differs from that in adults, and therefore different prognostic factors are needed.