Expanding the molecular grading criteria in IDH-mutant astrocytoma

Abstract Background IDH-mutant astrocytomas are classified as WHO grade 4 in the presence of conventional high-grade histologic features and/or homozygous CDKN2A/B deletion in the 5th edition of the WHO Classification of Central Nervous System Tumour guidelines. However, work over the past decade has indicated a number of other molecular alterations that warrant consideration as potential prognostic markers. Methods We used univariate Kaplan-Meier and multivariate Cox proportional hazards regression analysis to evaluate the prognostic effects of homozygous CDKN2A/B deletion, CDK4 amplification, CCND2 amplification, PDGFRA amplification/mutation, PIK3R1 mutation, PIK3CA mutation, MYCN amplification, EGFR amplification/mutation, TERT promoter mutation, and grade 4 histologic features in two independent cohorts of WHO grade 2–4 IDH-mutant astrocytoma (n = 840 and n = 367). Results The presence of CDK4 amplification, CCND2 amplification, PDGFRA alteration, PIK3R1 mutation, MYCN amplification, and EGFR alteration were each associated with reduced overall survival compared to WHO grade 2/3 astrocytomas without these molecular features. 17.7% (148/837) of otherwise grade 2/3 astrocytomas had one or more of these molecular criteria, with resulting intermediate clinical outcome in terms of overall survival (median survival of 67.3–82.0 months) compared to grade 2/3 astrocytomas without these molecular features (median survival of 135.0–140.7 months) and grade 4 astrocytomas (median survival of 35.3–45.0 months). Conclusions The presence of CDK4, CCND2, PDGFRA, PIK3R1, MYCN, and EGFR alterations result in an intermediate patient survival in IDH-mutant astrocytoma. Adding these molecular alterations should be considered in future diagnostic classification systems to improve stratification of high-risk patients.