Impact of PCR-based molecular analysis in daily diagnosis for the patient with gliomas

The WHO2016 CNS update requires a combined histological and molecular assessment. To assess the major aberrations such as co-deletion of complete chromosome arms 1p and 19q (Co-del), isocitrate dehydrogenase and histone H3 mutations, direct sequencing, multiplex ligation-dependent probe amplification and/or FISH are methods considered to be “golden standard” in the community. However, these methods are expensive and complicated. The aim of this study is verification of the sensitivity of the simple PCR-based techniques for assessment of molecular information in daily diagnosis. We analyzed a total number of 80 patients with gliomas. FISH and PCR-based microsatellite analysis were compared for Co-del assessment. Direct sequencing and qPCR using hig-resolution melting (HRM) were compared for IDH and histone H3 mutations. The sensitivity and specificity of FISH were 0.71 and 0.79, respectively. FISH using a commercially available Vysis probe had a risk of high false-positive rate (0.25). For assessment of IDH1 mutations, the sensitivity and specificity of HRM were 1.0 and 0.96, respectively. For assessment of IDH2 and H3 mutations by HRM, both sensitivity and specificity were 1.0. We consider PCR-based molecular analysis to be a simple and accurate technique in daily diagnosis that is readily available for a small scientific facility.