Brain Cancer Research Today is a free monthly online journal that collates and summarizes the latest research about Brain Cancer, including details on symptoms, benign and malignant tumors, gliomas, treatment.

RhoA protein expression correlates positively with degree of malignancy in astrocytomas.

Yan B, Chour HH, Peh BK, Lim C, Salto-Tellez M

Department of Pathology, National University Hospital, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Singapore.

Astrocytic tumors are the most common intracranial neoplasms. Their prognoses correlate with a conventional morphological grading system that suffers from diagnostic subjectivity and hence, inter-observer inconsistency. A molecular marker that provides an objective reference for classification and prognostication of astrocytic tumors would be useful in diagnostic pathology. RhoA, a GTPase protein involved in cell migration and adhesion, has been shown to be upregulated in a variety of human cancers. Based on direct analysis of clinical materials, our study demonstrates increased expression of RhoA in high-grade astrocytomas. This observation may be relevant to astrocytoma biology and the development of potential therapeutics against high-grade astrocytomas. Of more immediate consequence, utilization of this marker may aid in the routine pathological grading (and hence prognostication) of astrocytomas.

Published 25 September 2006 in Neurosci Lett, 407(2): 124-6.
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