TY - JOUR
T1 - Tumor-related molecular determinants of neurocognitive deficits in patients with diffuse glioma
AU - van Kessel, Emma
AU - Berendsen, Sharon
AU - Baumfalk, Anniek E.
AU - Venugopal, Hema
AU - Krijnen, Eva A.
AU - Spliet, Wim G. M.
AU - van Hecke, Wim
AU - Giuliani, Fabrizio
AU - Seute, Tatjana
AU - van Zandvoort, Martine J. E.
AU - Snijders, Tom J.
AU - Robe, Pierre A.
N1 - Publisher Copyright: © The Author(s) 2022. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society for Neuro-Oncology. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.
PY - 2022/10/3
Y1 - 2022/10/3
N2 - BACKGROUND: Cognitive impairment is a common and debilitating symptom in patients with diffuse glioma, and is the result of multiple factors. We hypothesized that molecular tumor characteristics influence neurocognitive functioning (NCF), and aimed to identify tumor-related markers of NCF in diffuse glioma patients. METHODS: We examined the relation between cognitive performance (executive function, memory, and psychomotor speed) and intratumoral expression levels of molecular markers in treatment-naive patients with diffuse glioma. We performed a single-center study in a consecutive cohort, through a two-step design: (1) hypothesis-free differential expression and gene set enrichment analysis to identify candidate oncogenetic markers for cognitive impairment. Nineteen molecular markers of interest were derived from this set of genes, as well as from prior knowledge; (2) correlation of cognitive performance to intratumoral expression levels of these nineteen molecular markers, measured with immunohistochemistry. RESULTS: From 708 included patients with immunohistochemical data, we performed an in-depth analysis of neuropsychological data in 197, and differential expression analysis in 65 patients. After correcting for tumor volume and location, we found significant associations between expression levels of CD3 and IDH-1 and psychomotor speed; between IDH-1, ATRX, NLGN3, BDNF, CK2Beta, EAAT1, GAT-3, SRF, and memory performance; and between IDH-1, P-STAT5b, NLGN3, CK2Beta, and executive functioning. P-STAT5b, CD163, CD3, and Semaphorin-3A were independently associated after further correction for histopathological grade. CONCLUSION: Molecular characteristics of glioma can be independent determinants of patients' cognitive functioning. This suggests that besides tumor volume, location, and histological grade, variations in glioma biology influence cognitive performance through mechanisms that include perturbation of neuronal communication. These results pave the way towards targeted cognition improving therapies in neuro-oncology.
AB - BACKGROUND: Cognitive impairment is a common and debilitating symptom in patients with diffuse glioma, and is the result of multiple factors. We hypothesized that molecular tumor characteristics influence neurocognitive functioning (NCF), and aimed to identify tumor-related markers of NCF in diffuse glioma patients. METHODS: We examined the relation between cognitive performance (executive function, memory, and psychomotor speed) and intratumoral expression levels of molecular markers in treatment-naive patients with diffuse glioma. We performed a single-center study in a consecutive cohort, through a two-step design: (1) hypothesis-free differential expression and gene set enrichment analysis to identify candidate oncogenetic markers for cognitive impairment. Nineteen molecular markers of interest were derived from this set of genes, as well as from prior knowledge; (2) correlation of cognitive performance to intratumoral expression levels of these nineteen molecular markers, measured with immunohistochemistry. RESULTS: From 708 included patients with immunohistochemical data, we performed an in-depth analysis of neuropsychological data in 197, and differential expression analysis in 65 patients. After correcting for tumor volume and location, we found significant associations between expression levels of CD3 and IDH-1 and psychomotor speed; between IDH-1, ATRX, NLGN3, BDNF, CK2Beta, EAAT1, GAT-3, SRF, and memory performance; and between IDH-1, P-STAT5b, NLGN3, CK2Beta, and executive functioning. P-STAT5b, CD163, CD3, and Semaphorin-3A were independently associated after further correction for histopathological grade. CONCLUSION: Molecular characteristics of glioma can be independent determinants of patients' cognitive functioning. This suggests that besides tumor volume, location, and histological grade, variations in glioma biology influence cognitive performance through mechanisms that include perturbation of neuronal communication. These results pave the way towards targeted cognition improving therapies in neuro-oncology.
KW - cognitive functioning
KW - diffuse glioma
KW - oncobiological characteristics
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85133925406&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - https://doi.org/10.1093/neuonc/noac036
DO - https://doi.org/10.1093/neuonc/noac036
M3 - Article
C2 - 35148403
SN - 1522-8517
VL - 24
SP - 1660
EP - 1670
JO - Neuro-oncology
JF - Neuro-oncology
IS - 10
ER -