Prognostic variables in oligodendroglial tumors: a single-institution study of 95 cases

We analyzed the relationships among clinical variables, histology, 1p/19q status, and outcome in 95 patients with oligodendroglial tumors. The study enrolled adult patients who underwent first-time surgery for a supratentorial oligodendroglial tumor at Oslo University Hospital, Rikshospitalet. Tumors were: 27 oligodendrogliomas, WHO grade II; 32 oligoastrocytomas, WHO grade II; 16 anaplastic oligodendrogliomas, WHO grade III; 14 anaplastic oligoastrocytomas, WHO grade III; and 6 glioblastomas with a major oligodendroglial component, WHO grade IV. The clinical files were reviewed. Three neuropathologists evaluated the histological slides independently. Loss-of-heterozygosity analysis for 1p and 19q was performed by PCR. Favorable prognostic factors from univariate analyses included seizures as presenting symptom, female sex, location in the frontal lobe, low WHO grade, classic histology, absence of gemistocytic cells, and combined 1p/19q loss. Solitary 19q loss was a negative prognostic marker. 1p/19q status was of prognostic significance in both tumors with classic and nonclassic oligodendroglial histology. In the multivariate analysis, WHO grade II (P< .001), frontal tumor location (P= .002), and combined 1p/19q loss (P< .001) remained favorable prognostic variables. Our results suggest that tumor location, WHO grade, and 1p/19q status are important independent variables associated with survival in oligodendroglial tumors. The study suggests that solitary 19q loss is a negative prognostic variable and that 1p/19q loss is associated with prolonged survival also in oligodendroglial tumors without classic histology.