Gliomas are tumours of glial cells - i.e. cells in the nervous system that have the function of supporting neurons - and are the most frequent in paediatric patients. Low malignancy paediatric gliomas are curable with surgical removal and new experimental therapies.

However, surgery is insufficient in some cases to prevent the progression of this type of tumour; to date, no biomarkers were known that could predict in which patients this event might occur.

New international research, coordinated by Elisabetta Ferretti from the Department of Experimental Medicine at Sapienza University of Rome and published in the prestigious journal Biomarker Research, has made a fundamental contribution in this area.

'Our study,' says Elisabetta Ferretti, 'is the first in low-grade paediatric gliomas to have demonstrated the possibility of identifying a biomarker capable of identifying patients at risk of progression.

These tumours may remain indolent even for decades or undergo progression. Identifying the risk of progression at the time of diagnosis is of great clinical interest and is crucial for making decisions about the medical approach. Indeed, it makes it possible to avoid subjecting young patients with a low risk of progression to aggressive therapies that can have major neurocognitive consequences.

The study is a collaboration between the departments of Experimental Medicine, Molecular Medicine and Radiological Sciences, Oncology and Anatomical Pathology at Sapienza University of Rome and the IRCCS Bambino Gesù, the University Hospital of Heidelberg, the University of Aix-Marseille, the Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore in Rome and the IRCCS Neuromed in Pozzilli.

'Although the usefulness of this biomarker needs further confirmation, it is,' conclude Giuseppina Catanzaro and Zein Mersini Besharat, first authors of the study and researchers at the Department of Experimental Medicine at Sapienza University, ' a promising starting point for the initial definition of patients and, above all, it rekindles the hopes of the scientific community to contribute to the development of personalised treatments in the field of precision medicine'.

References:

MiR-1248: a new prognostic biomarker able to identify supratentorial hemispheric pediatric low-grade gliomas patients associated with progression - Giuseppina Catanzaro, Zein Mersini Besharat, Andrea Carai, Natalie Jäger, Elena Splendiani, Carole Colin, Agnese Po, Martina Chiacchiarini, Anna Citarella, Francesca Gianno, Antonella Cacchione, Evelina Miele, Francesca Diomedi Camassei, Marco Gessi, Luca Massimi, Franco Locatelli, David T. W. Jones, Dominique Figarella-Branger, Stefan M. Pfister, Angela Mastronuzzi, Felice Giangaspero, Elisabetta Ferretti - Biomarker Research (2022) https://doi.org/10.1186/s40364-022-00389-x

Further Information

Elisabetta Ferretti
Department of Experimental Medicine
elisabetta.ferretti@uniroma1.it