A High-Grade Glioma, Not Elsewhere Classified in an Older Adult with Discordant Genetic and Epigenetic Analyses

Abstract

The World Health Organization’s (WHO) classification of central nervous system (CNS) tumors is continually being refined to improve the existing diagnostic criteria for high-grade gliomas (HGGs), including glioblastoma. In 2021, advances in molecular analyses and DNA methylation profiling were incorporated to expand upon the diagnostic criteria for HGG, including the introduction of high-grade astrocytoma with piloid features (HGAP), a new tumor entity for which a match to the HGAP class in DNA methylation profiling is an essential criterion. We present an equivocal case of a 72-year-old male with an HGG exhibiting features of both HGAP and glioblastoma, but which did not conform to any existing 2021 WHO classification of CNS tumor entities. This “no match” in DNA methylation profiling resulted in a final diagnosis of HGG not elsewhere classified (NEC), for which standard treatment options do not exist.

Keywords

• high-grade astrocytoma with piloid features
• HGAP
• HGG NEC
• pilocytic astrocytoma
• DNA methylation
• classification