The Expressional Pattern of Invasion-Related Extracellular Matrix Molecules in CNS Tumors.

AIM OF THE STUDY: Astrocytomas are primary CNS malignancies which infiltrate the peritumoral tissue, even when they are low-grade. Schwannomas are also primary CNS tumors, however, they do not show peritumoral infiltration similarly to brain metastases which almost never invade the neighboring parts of brain. Extracellular matrix is altered in composition in various cancer types and is proposed to play an important role in the development of invasiveness of astrocytic tumors. This study aims to identify differences in the ECM composition of CNS tumors with different invasiveness.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: The mRNA and protein levels of ECM components were measured by QRT-PCR and mass-spectrometry, respectively, in grade II astrocytoma, NSCLC brain metastasis, schwannomas, and non-tumor brain control samples. Expressional data was analyzed statistically with ANOVA and nearest neighbor search.

RESULTS: There is a significant difference in the expressional pattern of invasion-related ECM components among various CNS tumors, especially among those of different embryonic origin. Non-invasive tumors show only slight differences in the expressional pattern of ECM molecules. Tumor samples can be separated based on their expressional pattern using statistical classifiers, therefore the ECM composition seems to be typical of various cancer types.

CONCLUSIONS: Differences in the expressional pattern of the ECM could be responsible for the different invasiveness of various CNS tumors.