title: Instability of mitochondrial DNA and MRI and clinical correlations in malignant gliomas.
abstract: Mutations and instability of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) are frequent in tumors but their pathogenic relevance is not established. To assess their role in the clinical management of malignant gliomas we have studied the D loop of mtDNA in 42 such tumors. Alterations were found in 36% of the cases. The MRI and the clinical follow-up of these patients suggest that these mutations are not associated with increased aggressiveness. mtDNA could be amplified from post-surgical tumor cavities in patients undergoing a loco-regional treatment. These results imply that mtDNA mutations are unlikely to play a role in diagnostic or prognostic evaluations of gliomas: their detection, however, could be of use for the clinical follow-up of malignant gliomas.
authors.affiliation: Unit of Biochemistry and Genetics, Istituto Nazionale Neurologico Besta Milan, Italy.
authors.forename: Luisa
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Montanini
authors.forename: Caroline
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Regna-Gladin
authors.forename: Marica
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Eoli
authors.forename: Ruth
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Albarosa
authors.forename: Franco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Carrara
authors.forename: Massimo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Zeviani
authors.forename: Maria Grazia
authors.initials: MG
authors.lastname: Bruzzone
authors.forename: Giovanni
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Broggi
authors.forename: Amerigo
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Boiardi
authors.forename: Gaetano
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Finocchiaro
mesh_terms: D001483:Base Sequence; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000235:genetics*; D001932:Brain Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics* / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology; D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial / Q000235:genetics*; D042822:Genomic Instability; D005910:Glioma / Q000235:genetics* / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D011110:Polymorphism, Genetic; D011379:Prognosis; D016019:Survival Analysis
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial