Molecular Characteristics of High-Grade Glioma in Relation to 5-Aminolevulinic Acid (5-ALA) Fluorescence Intensity

5-aminolevulinic acid (5-ALA) fluorescence used in glioma surgery has different intensities within tumors and among different patients, some molecular and external factors have been implicated, but there is no clear evidence analyzing the difference of fluorescence according to glioma molecular characteristics. This study aimed to compare molecular factors of glioma samples with fluorescence intensity to identify potential cofounders and associations with clinically relevant tumor features.

Tumor samples of high-grade glioma patients operated using 5-ALA for guided resection were included for comparative analysis of fluorescence intensity and molecular features. All the samples were processed under the same conditions. The power for fluorescent stimulation and acquisition time was the same between samples. An inverted fluorescence microscope compared the mean fluorescence for each molecular variation. p53, ATRX and Ki67 expression and IDH1 mutation were assessed by immunohistochemistry. Follow-up of the patients for progression-free survival and overall survival was made.

We found that the fluorescence intensity for each specific tumor was independent of the methylation of the methylguanine-DNA-methyltransferase (MGMT) promoter region assessed by pyrosequencing, there was no association of fluorescence with p53, ATRX, IDH1 mutation as assessed by immunochemistry. Also, fluorescence intensity has no relation with time of tumor recurrence or overall survival.

With the results, we argue that many factors are involved in fluorescence intensity that may be related to the specific metabolic status of the glioma cells analyzed, which is more likely to be responsible for the variation of fluorescence.