Low-grade gliomas: from Glioma-Associated Stem Cells (GASCs) to new prognostic and predictive markers

Gliomas are primary central nervous system tumors that arise most frequently in the cerebral hemispheres of adults. WHO grade I and grade II gliomas are summarized as low grade-glioma (LGG)and WHO grade III and grade IV are summarized as high grade glioma (HGG). Our group has recently isolated from LGG a population of stem cells named GASC (Glioma-Associated Stem Cells), that represent the strongest predictor of LGG patients’ overall survival and malignant progression free survival. The work of this thesis studied gene expression profile of GASC. We have found that GASC from gliomas with a malignant progression are characterized by an inflammatory transcriptome which includes cytokines such IL-1β and IL-6 and transcriptional regulator like NFκB/p65. We have evaluated the expression of IL-1β, IL-6 and NFκB/p65 at tissue level on high-grade and low-grade gliomas and then we validate the obtained results on the case study of LGG available in our department. Our analyses suggest nuclear p65 as an independent predictor of overall survival and malignant progression free survival.