Summary of each WHO Classification of Tumors of the Central Nervous System prior to the fifth edition

Abstract

WHO Classification of Tumors of the Central Nervous System (CNS) has been developed in the past more than 40 years after 6 versions published, which powerfully advances the clinical management of CNS tumors. We summarize the publishing process, classification characteristics and major modifications in each versions before the current edition. The classification tables of each edition complied in this summary are refreshed and dedicated to comply with the original English version, and referred to translated version as well as interpretation article in Chinese. The diverse name for the same entity in different versions are unified according to current nomenclature.

Keywords

• central nervous system neoplasms
• guidelines
• world health organization
• review