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Histological Features of Juvenile Pilocytic Astrocytoma in Gangliogliomas
Author(s) -
SantaCruz Karen Sterling,
Woon Carolyn,
Forster Colleen,
Mokhtarzadeh Ali,
Clark H. Brent
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.21.6.lb65-c
Subject(s) - ganglioglioma , synaptophysin , neun , pathology , pilocytic astrocytoma , h&e stain , astrocytoma , immunohistochemistry , medicine , biology , glioma , neuroscience , epilepsy , cancer research
The histopathological features of juvenile pilocytic astrocytoma (JPA) have been described in as many as 41% of gangliogliomas, however it is not known whether neoplastic neuronal cells are a common finding in tumors that would otherwise be classified as JPA. We sought to determine whether it is useful to use immunohistochemical techniques to screen JPAs for a neoplastic neuronal component. We found 5 tumors (4 patients) with evidence of possible neuronal differentiation using standard hematoxylin and eosin staining. Synaptophysin and NeuN N staining was interpreted as consistent with neuronal differentiation for 3 cases (3 patients) and equivocal for one patient (2 biopsies). All of these tumors were reclassified as ganglioglioma. We screened another 11 cases of typical JPA using synaptophysin and NeuN and although isolated trapped neurons were identified in a few cases, we found no additional cases that were reclassified as ganglioglioma. These results suggest that if JPA cases are screened for the presence of a neuronal component using standard hematoxylin and eosin staining, additional immunohistochemical stains are rarely useful.