Clonal composition of glioblastoma multiforme

Glioblastoma multiforme, the most common and most lethal primary central nervous system neoplasm, is noted for its phenotypic and biological heterogeneity. This heterogeneity may result from genetic alterations accumulated by a single transformed astrocyte as it evolves into a monoclonal tumor. Alternatively, it may be attributed to the presence of multiple biologically and genetically distinct astrocytic populations within a polyclonal tumor. To address the issue of clonal composition of glioblastoma multiforme the authors used two independent approaches: analysis of X-chromosome inactivation and analysis of chromosomes 10 and 17 for tumor-specific somatic deletions. The analysis included 10 tumors from nine female patients with glioblastoma multiforme (eight primary and two recurrent tumors), who were heterozygous at either of two X-chromosome genes (hypoxanthine phosphoribosyl-transferase or phosphoglycerate kinase). Nine glioblastomas multiforme demonstrated a monoclonal pattern on X-chromosome analysis; contamination with normal tissue obscured the analysis in one tumor. Somatic deletions on chromosomes 10 and/or 17 occurred in nine tumors, supporting a monoclonal composition for these tumors. These data suggest that glioblastoma multiforme is a monoclonal neoplasm, derived from the clonal expansion of a single transformed astrocyte that has, as a fundamental step in tumorigenesis, sustained a critical genetic alteration on chromosome 10 and/or 17.