Gliomatosis cerebri type II: two case reports.
BACKGROUND
TWO TYPES OF GLIOMATOSIS CEREBRI EXIST: Type I and Type II. We report the results of a histological and genetic study of two cases of gliomatosis cerebri Type II, correlating these results with therapy and prognosis.


METHODS
Two patients, a 52-year-old man (Patient 1) and a 76-year-old man (Patient 2) with gliomatosis cerebri II were admitted to our institution; they underwent surgical treatment and received radiotherapy and chemotherapy. At the 24-month follow-up, Patient 1 was still alive, while Patient 2 had died. The poor prognosis of Patient 2 was underlined by molecular analysis which showed that the angiogenesis related genes VCAM1 and VEGF were overexpressed, reflecting the high degree of neovascularization.


CONCLUSIONS
Genes involved in drug resistance and metallothioneins were highly expressed in Patient 2 and this, associated with unmethylated O6-methylguanine methyltransferase, can explain the lack of response to chemotherapy.
D'Urso
Pietro Ivo
PI
D'Urso
Oscar Fernando
OF
Marsigliante
Santo
S
Storelli
Carlo
C
Distante
Alessandro
A
Sanguedolce
Francesca
F
Cimmino
Antonia
A
Luzi
Giuseppe
G
Gianfreda
Cosimo Damiano
CD
Montinaro
Antonio
A
Ciappetta
Pasqualino
P