Integrative multi-omics reveals two biologically distinct groups of pilocytic astrocytoma

Pilocytic astrocytoma (PA), the most common pediatric brain tumor, is driven by aberrant mitogen-activated protein kinase signaling most commonly caused by BRAF gene fusions or activating mutations. While 5-year overall survival rates exceed 95%, tumor recurrence or progression constitutes a major clinical challenge in incompletely resected tumors. Here, we used similarity network fusion (SNF) analysis in an integrative multi-omics approach employing RNA transcriptomic and mass spectrometry-based proteomic profiling to molecularly characterize PA tissue samples from 62 patients. Thereby, we uncovered that PAs segregated into two molecularly distinct groups, namely, Group 1 and Group 2, which were validated in three non-overlapping cohorts. Patients with Group 1 tumors were significantly younger and showed worse progression-free survival compared to patients with group 2 tumors. Ingenuity pathways analysis (IPA) and gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA) revealed that Group 1 tumors were enriched for immune response pathways, such as interferon signaling, while Group 2 tumors showed enrichment for action potential and neurotransmitter signaling pathways. Analysis of immune cell-related gene signatures showed an enrichment of infiltrating T Cells in Group 1 versus Group 2 tumors. Taken together, integrative multi-omics of PA identified biologically distinct and prognostically relevant tumor groups that may improve risk stratification of this single pathway driven tumor type.