A review of the cytogenetics of 58 pediatric brain tumors

We describe the cytogenetic results of 58 pediatric central nervous system (CNS) tumors of variable histology, investigated between 1992 and 2000. Suc cessful cytogenetics were obtained for 53 patients, with clonal chromosome abnormalities demonstrated in 25. Notable findings included (1) 2p abnormal ity in four primitive neuroectodermal tumors (PNET); (2) 1p loss in four lo w-grade gliomas and two PNET; (3) telomeric associations in one pilocytic a strocytoma; (4) chromosome 7 gain in four astrocytomas and two PNET; (5) 17 p loss in four PNET; (6) double minutes in one PNET and three glioblastomas ; and (7) chromosome 10 loss in four PNET. Higher grade tumors demonstrated greater karyotype complexity. Low-grade tumors showed either minimal simpl e chromosome changes or a normal karyotype. Chromosome abnormalities were m ore frequent in supratentorial tumors than their infratentorial counterpart s. Our results add weight to the limited existing body of cytogenetic docum entation for pediatric CNS tumors and provide further evidence that 2p loss is a consistent region of chromosome involvement in PNET. We advocate furt her studies of CNS tumors, in particular, to evaluate the importance of 2p changes and to compare cytogenetic results for supratentorial tumors and th eir infratentorial counterparts. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Inc. All rights reserved.