title: Practical molecular pathologic diagnosis of pilocytic astrocytomas.
abstract: The pilocytic astrocytoma is predominantly a tumor of childhood and the most common type of circumscribed astrocytoma. The indolent nature of this tumor allows for prolonged survival for most patients, rendering the disease a rather "chronic" one, with potential long-term sequelae that are occasionally related to treatment. Two critical features of this tumor are its tendency to remain dormant, or involute even after subtotal resection, and the exceptional anaplastic transformation, sometimes following adjuvant therapy. The biological behavior of pilocytic astrocytoma can often be related to molecular alterations in the MAPK pathway.
authors.affiliation: Neuropathology Division, Department of Pathology, UCSF School of Medicine, UCSF Medical Center, 505 Parnassus Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94143-0102, USA.
authors.forename: Gerald F
authors.initials: GF
authors.lastname: Reis
authors.affiliation: Neuropathology Division, Department of Pathology, UCSF School of Medicine, UCSF Medical Center, 505 Parnassus Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94143-0102, USA. Electronic address: tarik.tihan@ucsf.edu.
authors.forename: Tarik
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Tihan
mesh_terms: D001254:Astrocytoma / Q000145:classification / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology* / Q000628:therapy; D001932:Brain Neoplasms / Q000145:classification / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology* / Q000628:therapy; D016922:Cellular Senescence; D006801:Humans; D020935:MAP Kinase Signaling System / Q000502:physiology; D048493:Proto-Oncogene Proteins B-raf / Q000235:genetics; D011859:Radiography
chemical_list: C482119:BRAF protein, human; D048493:Proto-Oncogene Proteins B-raf
keywords: Childhood tumor; Circumscribed astrocytoma; Pilocytic astrocytoma