Neuropathology and applied neurobiology
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Neuropathol. Appl. Neurobiol. · Dec 2010
Comparative StudyTumour vasculature and angiogenic profile of paediatric pilocytic astrocytoma; is it much different from glioblastoma?
Pilocytic astrocytomas are the most frequent brain tumours in children. Because of their high vascularity, this study aimed to obtain insights into potential angiogenic related therapeutic targets in these tumours by characterization of the vasculature and the angiogenic profile. In this study 59 paediatric pilocytic astrocytomas were compared with 62 adult glioblastomas, as a prototype of tumour angiogenesis. ⋯ Despite the fact that pilocytic astrocytoma showed a different vessel architecture compared with glioblastoma, a critical overlap in vessel immaturity/instability and the angiogenic profile was seen between both tumours. These findings suggest encouraging possibilities for targeting angiogenesis (for instance with anti-VEGF) as a therapeutic strategy in pilocytic astrocytoma.