title: Grading brain tumors other than astrocytomas.
abstract: In this article, a critique of the literature is presented concerning the correlation (or lack thereof) between the prognoses of patients with brain tumors other than astrocytomas and the histologic grades of their tumors. In general, the histologic "grade" is a shorthand description of the tumor type and should be understood only as a means of communication of a system of histologic classification and not as implying any indication of biologic behavior, because the "grade" is a relatively poor indicator of the patient's prognosis. Other biological factors (such as the age of the patient, the site of the tumor, and the extent of the surgical resection) are better correlates of subsequent behavior of the neoplasm. The authors suggest (without proof, however) that the determination of potential tumor-doubling times by measuring the percentages of tumor cells in S-phase (by flow cytometry) and in the cell cycle (by immunocytochemistry) may provide a better measure of the degree of malignancy (defined by the rapidity of growth) than can the histologic characteristics by themselves.
authors.affiliation: University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle.
authors.forename: E C
authors.initials: EC
authors.lastname: Alvord
authors.forename: C M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Shaw
mesh_terms: D001921:Brain / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery; D001932:Brain Neoplasms / Q000145:classification / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery; D002455:Cell Division / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D009336:Necrosis; D011379:Prognosis; D015996:Survival Rate