Minireviews
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2022. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Clin Oncol. Jul 24, 2022; 13(7): 567-576
Published online Jul 24, 2022. doi: 10.5306/wjco.v13.i7.567
Simple approach for the histomolecular diagnosis of central nervous system gliomas based on 2021 World Health Organization Classification
Maher Kurdi, Rana H Moshref, Yousef Katib, Eyad Faizo, Ahmed A Najjar, Basem Bahakeem, Ahmed K Bamaga
Maher Kurdi, Department of Pathology, Faculty of Medicine, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah 213733, Saudi Arabia
Rana H Moshref, Department of Neurosciences, King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Center, Jeddah 213733, Saudi Arabia
Yousef Katib, Department of Radiology, Faculty of Medicine, Taibah University, Almadinah Almunawwarah 213733, Saudi Arabia
Eyad Faizo, Division of Neurosurgery, Department of Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, Tabuk University, Tabuk 213733, Saudi Arabia
Ahmed A Najjar, College of Medicine, Taibah University, Almadinah Almunawwarah 213733, Saudi Arabia
Basem Bahakeem, Faculty of Medicine, Umm-Alqura University, Makkah 213733, Saudi Arabia
Ahmed K Bamaga, Department of Pediatric, Neuromuscular Medicine Unit, Faculty of Medicine and King Abdulaziz University Hospital, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah 213733, Saudi Arabia
Author contributions: Kurdi M, Moshref H R edited and wrote the paper; Katib Y, Faizo E, Najjar A, Bahakeem B, and Bamaga AK helped in writing the paper; All authors have read and approved the manuscript.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors declare no conflict of interests for this article.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Maher Kurdi, FRCPC, MD, Associate Professor, Department of Pathology, Faculty of Medicine, King Abdulaziz University, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Jeddah 213733, Saudi Arabia. ahkurdi@kau.edu.sa
Received: March 5, 2022
Peer-review started: March 5, 2022
First decision: April 19, 2022
Revised: April 24, 2022
Accepted: June 22, 2022
Article in press: June 22, 2022
Published online: July 24, 2022
Abstract

The classification of central nervous system (CNS) glioma went through a sequence of developments, between 2006 and 2021, started with only histological approach then has been aided with a major emphasis on molecular signatures in the 4th and 5th editions of the World Health Organization (WHO). The recent reformation in the 5th edition of the WHO classification has focused more on the molecularly defined entities with better characterized natural histories as well as new tumor types and subtypes in the adult and pediatric populations. These new subclassified entities have been incorporated in the 5th edition after the continuous exploration of new genomic, epigenomic and transcriptomic discovery. Indeed, the current guidelines of 2021 WHO classification of CNS tumors and European Association of Neuro-Oncology (EANO) exploited the molecular signatures in the diagnostic approach of CNS gliomas. Our current review presents a practical diagnostic approach for diffuse CNS gliomas and circumscribed astrocytomas using histomolecular criteria adopted by the recent WHO classification. We also describe the treatment strategies for these tumors based on EANO guidelines.

Keywords: Central Nervous System glioma, Classification, World Health Organization 2021, European Association of Neuro-Oncology guidelines

Core Tip: Central nervous system (CNS) gliomas went through a sequence of development since 2006. The guidelines of 2021 World Health Organization (WHO) classification of CNS tumors and European Association of Neuro-Oncology (EANO) utilized molecular signatures in the diagnostic approach for CNS gliomas. We herein presents a practical diagnostic approach and the treatment strategies for diffuse CNS gliomas and circumscribed astrocytomas using histomolecular criteria based on the WHO classification.