Gliomas: association of histology and molecular genetic analysis of chromosomes 1p, 10q, and 19q

The aim of our study was to evaluate the frequencies of loss of heterozygosity (LOH) on chromosomes 1p, 10q, and 19q in gliomas and to correlate them with the histological diagnosis and with patient age and gender. We found deletions within chromosome 1p to be significantly associated with the histological subtype of glial tumor (P < 0.05); frequency of 1p deletions increased from astrocytoma (0%) through glioblastoma (31%) and oligoastrocytoma (57%) to oligodendroglioma (63%). In patients with 1p LOH, the odds for having astrocytoma or glioblastoma were approximately 10-fold and 4-fold lower, respectively, than oligodendroglioma. The odds for having oligoastrocytoma were similar to oligodendroglioma (OR = 1.3). The frequency of 10q LOH in patients with glioblastoma was significantly higher than in patients with oligodendroglioma (89% vs. 36%; P < 0.005). In patients with oligodendroglioma, most cases with LOH on chromosome 1p also had LOH 19q (90%), one case of 1p LOH also had a deletion on 10q. Statistical analyses revealed a significant association between deletions on 1p and 19q (P < 0.05). Our data provide evidence that use of molecular genetic analyses of chromosomes 1p, 19q, and 10q might improve the diagnosis of gliomas.