Correlation analysis of tumor purity with clinicopathological, molecular, and imaging features in high-grade gliomas

High-grade gliomas (HGG) have high malignancy, high heterogeneity, and a poor prognosis. Tumor purity is an intrinsic feature of the HGG microenvironment and an independent prognostic factor. The purpose of this study was to analyze the correlation of tumor purity with clinicopathological, molecular, and imaging features. We performed a retrospective analysis of 112 patients diagnosed with HGG (grades III and IV) in our center. Eleven regions of interest (ROI) were randomly selected on whole-slide images (WSI, 40 × magnification) based on HGG tissue paraffin sections and hematoxylin-eosin (H&E) staining. Of these 11 ROIs, five ROIs were visually estimated by pathologists and six ROIs were automatically analyzed using ImageJ software. Last, the average tumor purity (%) of the 11 ROIs was calculated. Correlation analysis of tumor purity with clinicopathological, molecular, and imaging features was conducted. Of the 112 patients included in the study, the mean tumor purity of HGG was 70.96%. There were differences in tumor purity between WHO grades III and IV; the tumor purity of grade IV patients (67.59%) was lower than that of grade III patients (76.00%) (p < 0.001). There were also differences in tumor purity between IDH1 mutant and wild type, and the tumor purity of IDH1 mutant patients was higher than that of IDH1 wild-type patients (p = 0.006). The average range of peritumoral edema was about 19.18 mm, and the diameter of edema, ADC_mean, and ADC_min were negatively correlated with tumor purity(r =  - 0.236, r =  - 0.306, and r =  - 0.242; p < 0.05). The grade of HGG, IDH1 mutant/wild type, peritumoral edema, and ADC value were correlated with tumor purity. HGG grade, IDH1 mutant/wild type, peritumoral edema, and ADC value can predict tumor purity and indirectly reflect patient prognosis.