Publications

15 Publications visible to you, out of a total of 15

Abstract (Expand)

BACKGROUND: Diffuse lower WHO grade II and III gliomas (LGG) are slowly progressing brain tumors, many of which eventually transform into a more aggressive type. LGG is characterized by widespread genetic and transcriptional heterogeneity, yet little is known about the heterogeneity of the DNA methylome, its function in tumor biology, coupling with the transcriptome and tumor microenvironment and its possible impact for tumor development. METHODS: We here present novel DNA methylation data of an LGG-cohort collected in the German Glioma Network containing about 85% isocitrate dehydrogenase (IDH) mutated tumors and performed a combined bioinformatics analysis using patient-matched genome and transcriptome data. RESULTS: Stratification of LGG based on gene expression and DNA-methylation provided four consensus subtypes. We characterized them in terms of genetic alterations, functional context, cellular composition, tumor microenvironment and their possible impact for treatment resistance and prognosis. Glioma with astrocytoma-resembling phenotypes constitute the largest fraction of nearly 60%. They revealed largest diversity and were divided into four expression and three methylation groups which only partly match each other thus reflecting largely decoupled expression and methylation patterns. We identified a novel G-protein coupled receptor and a cancer-related 'keratinization' methylation signature in in addition to the glioma-CpG island methylator phenotype (G-CIMP) signature. These different signatures overlap and combine in various ways giving rise to diverse methylation and expression patterns that shape the glioma phenotypes. The decrease of global methylation in astrocytoma-like LGG associates with higher WHO grade, age at diagnosis and inferior prognosis. We found analogies between astrocytoma-like LGG with grade IV IDH-wild type tumors regarding possible worsening of treatment resistance along a proneural-to-mesenchymal axis. Using gene signature-based inference we elucidated the impact of cellular composition of the tumors including immune cell bystanders such as macrophages. CONCLUSIONS: Genomic, epigenomic and transcriptomic factors act in concert but partly also in a decoupled fashion what underpins the need for integrative, multidimensional stratification of LGG by combining these data on gene and cellular levels to delineate mechanisms of gene (de-)regulation and to enable better patient stratification and individualization of treatment.

Authors: H. Binder, E. Willscher, H. Loeffler-Wirth, L. Hopp, D. T. W. Jones, S. M. Pfister, M. Kreuz, D. Gramatzki, E. Fortenbacher, B. Hentschel, M. Tatagiba, U. Herrlinger, H. Vatter, J. Matschke, M. Westphal, D. Krex, G. Schackert, J. C. Tonn, U. Schlegel, H. J. Steiger, W. Wick, R. G. Weber, M. Weller, M. Loeffler

Date Published: 25th Apr 2019

Publication Type: Not specified

Human Diseases: brain glioma

Abstract (Expand)

Purpose: Approximately 40% of all glioblastomas have amplified the EGFR gene, and about half of these tumors express the EGFRvIII variant. The prognostic role of EGFRvIII in EGFR-amplified glioblastoma patients and changes in EGFRvIII expression in recurrent versus primary glioblastomas remain controversial, but such data are highly relevant for EGFRvIII-targeted therapies.Experimental Design:EGFR-amplified glioblastomas from 106 patients were assessed for EGFRvIII positivity. Changes in EGFR amplification and EGFRvIII status from primary to recurrent glioblastomas were evaluated in 40 patients with EGFR-amplified tumors and 33 patients with EGFR-nonamplified tumors. EGFR single-nucleotide variants (SNV) were assessed in 27 patients. Data were correlated with outcome and validated in 150 glioblastoma patients from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) consortium.Results: Sixty of 106 EGFR-amplified glioblastomas were EGFRvIII-positive (56.6%). EGFRvIII positivity was not associated with different progression-free or overall survival. EGFRvIII status was unchanged at recurrence in 35 of 40 patients with EGFR-amplified primary tumors (87.5%). Four patients lost and one patient gained EGFRvIII positivity at recurrence. None of 33 EGFR-nonamplified glioblastomas acquired EGFR amplification or EGFRvIII at recurrence. EGFR SNVs were frequent in EGFR-amplified tumors, but were not linked to survival.Conclusions: EGFRvIII and EGFR SNVs are not prognostic in EGFR-amplified glioblastoma patients. EGFR amplification is retained in recurrent glioblastomas. Most EGFRvIII-positive glioblastomas maintain EGFRvIII positivity at recurrence. However, EGFRvIII expression may change in a subset of patients at recurrence, thus repeated biopsy with reassessment of EGFRvIII status is recommended for patients with recurrent glioblastoma to receive EGFRvIII-targeting agents. Clin Cancer Res; 23(22); 6846-55. (c)2017 AACR.

Authors: J. Felsberg, B. Hentschel, K. Kaulich, D. Gramatzki, A. Zacher, B. Malzkorn, M. Kamp, M. Sabel, M. Simon, M. Westphal, G. Schackert, J. C. Tonn, T. Pietsch, A. von Deimling, M. Loeffler, G. Reifenberger, M. Weller

Date Published: 15th Nov 2017

Publication Type: Journal article

Human Diseases: brain glioblastoma multiforme

Abstract (Expand)

OBJECTIVE: To explore an association with survival of modifying the current standard of care for patients with newly diagnosed glioblastoma of surgery followed by radiotherapy plus concurrent and 6 cycles of maintenance temozolomide chemotherapy (TMZ/RT --> TMZ) by extending TMZ beyond 6 cycles. METHODS: The German Glioma Network cohort was screened for patients with newly diagnosed glioblastoma who received TMZ/RT --> TMZ and completed >/=6 cycles of maintenance chemotherapy without progression. Associations of clinical patient characteristics, molecular markers, and residual tumor determined by magnetic resonance imaging after 6 cycles of TMZ with progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) were analyzed with the log-rank test. Multivariate analyses using the Cox proportional hazards model were performed to assess associations of prolonged TMZ use with outcome. RESULTS: Sixty-one of 142 identified patients received at least 7 maintenance TMZ cycles (median 11, range 7-20). Patients with extended maintenance TMZ treatment had better PFS (20.5 months, 95% confidence interval [CI] 17.7-23.3, vs 17.2 months, 95% CI 10.2-24.2, p = 0.035) but not OS (32.6 months, 95% CI 28.9-36.4, vs 33.2 months, 95% CI 25.3-41.0, p = 0.126). However, there was no significant association of prolonged TMZ chemotherapy with PFS (hazard ratio [HR] = 0.8, 95% CI 0.4-1.6, p = 0.559) or OS (HR = 1.6, 95% CI 0.8-3.3, p = 0.218) adjusted for age, extent of resection, Karnofsky performance score, presence of residual tumor, O(6)-methylguanine DNA methyltransferase (MGMT) promoter methylation status, or isocitrate dehydrogenase (IDH) mutation status. CONCLUSION: These data may not support the practice of prolonging maintenance TMZ chemotherapy beyond 6 cycles. CLASSIFICATION OF EVIDENCE: This study provides Class III evidence that in patients with newly diagnosed glioblastoma, prolonged TMZ chemotherapy does not significantly increase PFS or OS.

Authors: D. Gramatzki, P. Kickingereder, B. Hentschel, J. Felsberg, U. Herrlinger, G. Schackert, J. C. Tonn, M. Westphal, M. Sabel, U. Schlegel, W. Wick, T. Pietsch, G. Reifenberger, M. Loeffler, M. Bendszus, M. Weller

Date Published: 11th Apr 2017

Publication Type: Journal article

Human Diseases: brain glioblastoma multiforme

Abstract (Expand)

BACKGROUND: Ependymal tumors in adults are rare, accounting for less than 4% of primary tumors of the central nervous system in this age group. The low prevalence of intracranial ependymoma in adults limits the ability to perform clinical trials. Therefore, treatment decisions are based on small, mostly retrospective studies and the role of chemotherapy has remained unclear. METHODS: We performed a retrospective study on 17 adult patients diagnosed with intracranial World Health Organisation grade II or III ependymoma, who were treated with chemotherapy at any time during the disease course. Benefit from chemotherapy was estimated by applying Macdonald criteria. Progression-free (PFS) and overall survival (OS) were calculated from start of chemotherapy, using the Kaplan-Meier method. RESULTS: Eleven patients had supratentorial and 6 infratentorial tumors. Ten patients were treated with temozolomide (TMZ), 3 with procarbazine/lomustine/vincristine (PCV), 3 with platinum-based chemotherapy and 1 patient received epirubicin/ifosfamide. Response rates were as follows: TMZ 8/10 stable disease; PCV 3/3 stable disease; platinum-based chemotherapy 1/3 partial response; epirubicin/ifosfamide 1/1 complete response. PFS rates at 6, 12 and 24 months were 52.9, 35.3 and 23.5%. OS rates at 6, 12 and 24 months were 82.4, 82.4 and 70.1%. There was no indication for a favourable prognostic role of O(6)-methylguanyl-DNA-methyltransferase (MGMT) promoter methylation which was detected in 3/12 investigated tumors. CONCLUSIONS: Survival outcomes in response to chemotherapy in adult intracranial ependymoma patients vary substantially, but individual patients may respond to any kind of chemotherapy. There were too few patients to compare survival data between chemotherapeutic subgroups.

Authors: D. Gramatzki, P. Roth, J. Felsberg, S. Hofer, E. J. Rushing, B. Hentschel, M. Westphal, D. Krex, M. Simon, O. Schnell, W. Wick, G. Reifenberger, M. Weller

Date Published: 23rd Apr 2016

Publication Type: Journal article

Human Diseases: adult brain ependymoma

Abstract (Expand)

Cerebral gliomas of World Health Organization (WHO) grade II and III represent a major challenge in terms of histological classification and clinical management. Here, we asked whether large-scale genomic and transcriptomic profiling improves the definition of prognostically distinct entities. We performed microarray-based genome- and transcriptome-wide analyses of primary tumor samples from a prospective German Glioma Network cohort of 137 patients with cerebral gliomas, including 61 WHO grade II and 76 WHO grade III tumors. Integrative bioinformatic analyses were employed to define molecular subgroups, which were then related to histology, molecular biomarkers, including isocitrate dehydrogenase 1 or 2 (IDH1/2) mutation, 1p/19q co-deletion and telomerase reverse transcriptase (TERT) promoter mutations, and patient outcome. Genomic profiling identified five distinct glioma groups, including three IDH1/2 mutant and two IDH1/2 wild-type groups. Expression profiling revealed evidence for eight transcriptionally different groups (five IDH1/2 mutant, three IDH1/2 wild type), which were only partially linked to the genomic groups. Correlation of DNA-based molecular stratification with clinical outcome allowed to define three major prognostic groups with characteristic genomic aberrations. The best prognosis was found in patients with IDH1/2 mutant and 1p/19q co-deleted tumors. Patients with IDH1/2 wild-type gliomas and glioblastoma-like genomic alterations, including gain on chromosome arm 7q (+7q), loss on chromosome arm 10q (-10q), TERT promoter mutation and oncogene amplification, displayed the worst outcome. Intermediate survival was seen in patients with IDH1/2 mutant, but 1p/19q intact, mostly astrocytic gliomas, and in patients with IDH1/2 wild-type gliomas lacking the +7q/-10q genotype and TERT promoter mutation. This molecular subgrouping stratified patients into prognostically distinct groups better than histological classification. Addition of gene expression data to this genomic classifier did not further improve prognostic stratification. In summary, DNA-based molecular profiling of WHO grade II and III gliomas distinguishes biologically distinct tumor groups and provides prognostically relevant information beyond histological classification as well as IDH1/2 mutation and 1p/19q co-deletion status.

Authors: M. Weller, R. G. Weber, E. Willscher, V. Riehmer, B. Hentschel, M. Kreuz, J. Felsberg, U. Beyer, H. Loffler-Wirth, K. Kaulich, J. P. Steinbach, C. Hartmann, D. Gramatzki, J. Schramm, M. Westphal, G. Schackert, M. Simon, T. Martens, J. Bostrom, C. Hagel, M. Sabel, D. Krex, J. C. Tonn, W. Wick, S. Noell, U. Schlegel, B. Radlwimmer, T. Pietsch, M. Loeffler, A. von Deimling, H. Binder, G. Reifenberger

Date Published: 19th Mar 2015

Publication Type: Not specified

Human Diseases: brain glioma

Abstract (Expand)

The prognosis of glioblastoma, the most malignant type of glioma, is still poor, with only a minority of patients showing long-term survival of more than three years after diagnosis. To elucidate the molecular aberrations in glioblastomas of long-term survivors, we performed genome- and/or transcriptome-wide molecular profiling of glioblastoma samples from 94 patients, including 28 long-term survivors with >36 months overall survival (OS), 20 short-term survivors with <12 months OS and 46 patients with intermediate OS. Integrative bioinformatic analyses were used to characterize molecular aberrations in the distinct survival groups considering established molecular markers such as isocitrate dehydrogenase 1 or 2 (IDH1/2) mutations, and O(6) -methylguanine DNA methyltransferase (MGMT) promoter methylation. Patients with long-term survival were younger and more often had IDH1/2-mutant and MGMT-methylated tumors. Gene expression profiling revealed over-representation of a distinct (proneural-like) expression signature in long-term survivors that was linked to IDH1/2 mutation. However, IDH1/2-wildtype glioblastomas from long-term survivors did not show distinct gene expression profiles and included proneural, classical and mesenchymal glioblastoma subtypes. Genomic imbalances also differed between IDH1/2-mutant and IDH1/2-wildtype tumors, but not between survival groups of IDH1/2-wildtype patients. Thus, our data support an important role for MGMT promoter methylation and IDH1/2 mutation in glioblastoma long-term survival and corroborate the association of IDH1/2 mutation with distinct genomic and transcriptional profiles. Importantly, however, IDH1/2-wildtype glioblastomas in our cohort of long-term survivors lacked distinctive DNA copy number changes and gene expression signatures, indicating that other factors might have been responsible for long survival in this particular subgroup of patients.

Authors: G. Reifenberger, R. G. Weber, V. Riehmer, K. Kaulich, E. Willscher, H. Wirth, J. Gietzelt, B. Hentschel, M. Westphal, M. Simon, G. Schackert, J. Schramm, J. Matschke, M. C. Sabel, D. Gramatzki, J. Felsberg, C. Hartmann, J. P. Steinbach, U. Schlegel, W. Wick, B. Radlwimmer, T. Pietsch, J. C. Tonn, A. von Deimling, H. Binder, M. Weller, M. Loeffler

Date Published: 15th Oct 2014

Publication Type: Not specified

Human Diseases: brain glioma

Abstract (Expand)

Molecular changes associated with the progression of glioblastoma after standard radiochemotherapy remain poorly understood. We compared genomic profiles of 27 paired primary and recurrent IDH1/2 wild-type glioblastomas by genome-wide array-based comparative genomic hybridization. By bioinformatic analysis, primary and recurrent tumor profiles were normalized and segmented, chromosomal gains and losses identified taking the tumor cell content into account, and difference profiles deduced. Seven of 27 (26%) pairs lacked DNA copy number differences between primary and recurrent tumors (equal pairs). The recurrent tumors in 9/27 (33%) pairs contained all chromosomal imbalances of the primary tumors plus additional ones, suggesting a sequential acquisition of and/or selection for aberrations during progression (sequential pairs). In 11/27 (41%) pairs, the profiles of primary and recurrent tumors were divergent, i.e., the recurrent tumors contained additional aberrations but had lost others, suggesting a polyclonal composition of the primary tumors and considerable clonal evolution (discrepant pairs). Losses on 9p21.3 harboring the CDKN2A/B locus were significantly more common in primary tumors from sequential and discrepant (nonequal) pairs. Nonequal pairs showed ten regions of recurrent genomic differences between primary and recurrent tumors harboring 46 candidate genes associated with tumor recurrence. In particular, copy numbers of genes encoding apoptosis regulators were frequently changed at progression. In summary, approximately 25% of IDH1/2 wild-type glioblastoma pairs have stable genomic imbalances. In contrast, approximately 75% of IDH1/2 wild-type glioblastomas undergo further genomic aberrations and alter their clonal composition upon recurrence impacting their genomic profile, a process possibly facilitated by 9p21.3 loss in the primary tumor. (c) 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Authors: V. Riehmer, J. Gietzelt, U. Beyer, B. Hentschel, M. Westphal, G. Schackert, M. C. Sabel, B. Radlwimmer, T. Pietsch, G. Reifenberger, M. Weller, R. G. Weber, M. Loeffler

Date Published: 8th Apr 2014

Publication Type: Not specified

Human Diseases: glioblastoma multiforme

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