Paediatric and adult malignant glioma: close relatives or distant cousins?
Gliomas in children differ from their adult counterparts by their distribution of                 histological grade, site of presentation and rate of malignant transformation.                 Although rare in the paediatric population, patients with high-grade gliomas have,                 for the most part, a comparably dismal clinical outcome to older patients with                 morphologically similar lesions. Molecular profiling data have begun to reveal the                 major genetic alterations underpinning these malignant tumours in children. Indeed,                 the accumulation of large datasets on adult high-grade glioma has revealed key                 biological differences between the adult and paediatric disease. Furthermore,                 subclassifications within the childhood age group can be made depending on age at                 diagnosis and tumour site. However, challenges remain on how to reconcile clinical                 data from adult patients to tailor novel treatment strategies specifically for                 paediatric patients.
Divisions of Molecular Pathology and Cancer Therapeutics, The                     Institute of Cancer Research, 15 Cotswold Road,                     Sutton                 SM2 5NG, UK.
Chris
C
Jones
Lara
L
Perryman
Darren
D
Hargrave
D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D001932:Brain Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology* / Q000628:therapy; D002648:Child; D005910:Glioma / Q000473:pathology* / Q000628:therapy; D006801:Humans; D011379:Prognosis