Abstract
Until recently, the search for underlying causes for the development of brain tumors was mainly focused on genetic alterations. However, it currently becomes more and more evident that many of the mutations that have been found in brain tumors are neither tumor-type specific, nor drugable but rather facilitate proliferative activity. With the pioneering methylation analysis of the O6-methylg uanine – DNA – methyltransferase (MGMT) gene, a first association of epigenetic marks with outcome and prediction for sensitivity to alkylating agents in glioblastoma patients could be demonstrated. Most recently, an even stronger link between tumor morphology, protein expression profiles and patient prognosis with the epigenetic profile of brain tumors has been established. This epigenetic profiling currently challenges the gold-standard of histological typing and grading of brain tumors since epigenome-wide methylation profiling become a fast and very robust method in neuropathological diagnostics. The epigenetic signatures of brain tumors may provide further insights into the understanding why dinstinct brain tumors display a characteristic morphology and growth behaviour.
Speaker
Michel MITTELBRONN is Head of the Department of Anatomic and Molecular Pathology, Head of Luxembourg Centre of Neuropathology (LCNP) & (FNR) PEARL Chair, Dudelange, Luxembourg
11.00 – 12.00: LECTURE
CHL, Amphitheatre
12.30 – 14.00: ‘MEET & EAT’
LIH, BAM, Mc Clintock room
Registration required for the ‘Meet & Eat’.