Onkológia 2/2024

From cIMPACT-NOW to WHO 2021 classification of brain tumors: from classical histomorphology to methylation profiling

The WHO classification of central nervous system tumors is mandatory for the histopathological diagnosis of brain tumors. Therapy and patient management are based on the pertinent categories of this classification, and its use is also essential for comparability of results between centers worldwide. In recent years, there has been a significant progress in our understanding of brain tumors, which is reflected in the latest edition of the CNS WHO classification with the involvement of a large amount of genetic data in the categorization of the tumors. Several genetic markers have significant prognostic and predictive value, some diagnoses cannot even be made without genetic testing. The most advanced methodology that is slowly making its way not only into the diagnosis of brain tumors is methylation profiling, which despite its limits, provides potentially more objective diagnostics than relatively subjective histomorphological evaluation.

Keywords: central nervous system tumors, WHO classification, methylation profiling