Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39948623›Full record

ArticleActa neuropathologica communications2025

The tumour microenvironment of pilocytic astrocytoma evolves over time via enrichment for microglia.

Thomas J Stone, Jessica C Pickles, Olumide Ogunbiyi, Shireena A Yasin, Catherine A Taylor, Saira W Ahmed, Jane Chalker, Carryl Dryden, Iwona Slodkowska, Emily Pang and 14 more

Abstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Acta neuropathologica communications, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

24 authors.

Thomas J StoneDevelopmental Biology and Cancer Research and Teaching Department, UCL Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health, 30 Guilford Street, London, WC1N 1EH, UK. thomas.stone.12@ucl.ac.uk.
Jessica C PicklesDevelopmental Biology and Cancer Research and Teaching Department, UCL Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health, 30 Guilford Street, London, WC1N 1EH, UK.
Olumide OgunbiyiDepartment of Histopathology, Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children NHS Foundation Trust, Great Ormond Street, London, WC1N 3JH, UK.
Shireena A YasinDepartment of Histopathology, Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children NHS Foundation Trust, Great Ormond Street, London, WC1N 3JH, UK.
Catherine A TaylorDevelopmental Biology and Cancer Research and Teaching Department, UCL Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health, 30 Guilford Street, London, WC1N 1EH, UK.
Saira W AhmedDevelopmental Biology and Cancer Research and Teaching Department, UCL Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health, 30 Guilford Street, London, WC1N 1EH, UK.
Jane ChalkerSpecialist Integrated Haematology and Malignancy Diagnostic Service, Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children NHS Foundation Trust, Great Ormond Street, London, WC1N 3JH, UK.
Carryl DrydenSpecialist Integrated Haematology and Malignancy Diagnostic Service, Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children NHS Foundation Trust, Great Ormond Street, London, WC1N 3JH, UK.
Iwona SlodkowskaSpecialist Integrated Haematology and Malignancy Diagnostic Service, Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children NHS Foundation Trust, Great Ormond Street, London, WC1N 3JH, UK.
Emily PangSpecialist Integrated Haematology and Malignancy Diagnostic Service, Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children NHS Foundation Trust, Great Ormond Street, London, WC1N 3JH, UK.
Mark KristiansenUCL Genomics, Zayed Centre for Research into Rare Disease in Children, 20 Guilford Street, London, WC1N 1DZ, UK.
Rachel WilliamsUCL Genomics, Zayed Centre for Research into Rare Disease in Children, 20 Guilford Street, London, WC1N 1DZ, UK.
Helena TutillUCL Genomics, Zayed Centre for Research into Rare Disease in Children, 20 Guilford Street, London, WC1N 1DZ, UK.
Charlotte A WilliamsUCL Genomics, Zayed Centre for Research into Rare Disease in Children, 20 Guilford Street, London, WC1N 1DZ, UK.
Gaganjit K MadhanUCL Genomics, Zayed Centre for Research into Rare Disease in Children, 20 Guilford Street, London, WC1N 1DZ, UK.
Leysa ForrestUCL Genomics, Zayed Centre for Research into Rare Disease in Children, 20 Guilford Street, London, WC1N 1DZ, UK.
Tony BrooksUCL Genomics, Zayed Centre for Research into Rare Disease in Children, 20 Guilford Street, London, WC1N 1DZ, UK.
Mike HubankClinical Genomics, Centre for Molecular Pathology, Royal Marsden Hospital, London, SM2 5NG, UK.
Debbie HughesClinical Genomics, Centre for Molecular Pathology, Royal Marsden Hospital, London, SM2 5NG, UK.
Paula ProszekClinical Genomics, Centre for Molecular Pathology, Royal Marsden Hospital, London, SM2 5NG, UK.
Grzegorz PietkaClinical Genomics, Centre for Molecular Pathology, Royal Marsden Hospital, London, SM2 5NG, UK.
Erin PeatClinical Genomics, Centre for Molecular Pathology, Royal Marsden Hospital, London, SM2 5NG, UK.
Darren HargraveDevelopmental Biology and Cancer Research and Teaching Department, UCL Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health, 30 Guilford Street, London, WC1N 1EH, UK.
Thomas S JacquesDevelopmental Biology and Cancer Research and Teaching Department, UCL Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health, 30 Guilford Street, London, WC1N 1EH, UK.

Funding

The Brain Tumour Charity GN-000707
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Pilocytic astrocytoma (PA) is the commonest low-grade tumour affecting children and is frequently experienced as a chronic disease associated with extended treatment, periods of regrowth, and long-term disability. This contrasts with the view of PA as a benign tumour with positive clinical outcomes and raises the fundamental question of biologically driven change over time within these tumours, which will impact diagnosis, stratification, and management. To investigate the molecular, cellular, and pathological stability of PA we performed RNA sequencing, methylation array profiling, immunohistochemistry, and targeted panel DNA sequencing on a cohort of 15 PA patients with matched primary/longitudinal samples at a mean sampling interval of 2.7 years. Through pairwise analysis of primary versus longitudinal tumour samples we identified changes to immune-related pathways within the expression and methylation profiles of longitudinal PA. Further interrogation of these changes revealed an enrichment over time for microglial cell populations, which was validated by immunohistochemistry against common monocyte/microglial markers. Moreover, immunohistochemical characterisation revealed concurrent increases in the expression of M2-like and anti-inflammatory markers. Microglial enrichments were consistent across the cohort and were not adequately explained by a range of potential confounders, including receipt of adjuvant therapy. Taken together, these data challenge the idea of pilocytic astrocytoma as a static entity and indicate that they consistently accumulate microglia over time, potentially co-opting the immune microenvironment towards an anti-inflammatory phenotype that may affect the natural course and treatment response of the tumours.

Indexed as

AstrocytomaBrain NeoplasmsMicrogliaTumor MicroenvironmentAdolescentChildChild, PreschoolCohort StudiesDisease ProgressionFemaleHumansLongitudinal StudiesMaleImmune microenvironmentLow-grade gliomaMicrogliaPilocytic astrocytoma

Identifiers

PMID39948623
PMCPMC11823165

What Socratic holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
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Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.