Publications by authors named "Sybren Maas"

Meningiomas are the most common primary intracranial tumors of adults. For meningiomas that progress or recur despite surgical resection and radiotherapy, additional treatment options are limited due to lack of proven efficacy. Meningiomas show recurring molecular aberrations, which may serve as predictive markers for systemic pharmacotherapies with targeted drugs or immunotherapy, radiotherapy or radioligand therapy.

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Background: Meningiomas are the most common primary intracranial tumours in adults. Several studies proposed new stratification systems with a more accurate risk prediction than the WHO grading, e.g.

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For glioblastoma patients, the efficacy-targeted therapy is limited to date. Most of the molecular therapies previously studied are lacking efficacy in this population. More trials are needed to study the actual actionability of biomarkers in (recurrent) glioblastoma.

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Article Synopsis
  • Treatment for meningiomas primarily involves surgery and sometimes radiation, but patient responses can vary significantly.
  • Researchers analyzed data from 2,824 meningiomas, including both retrospective and prospective information, to identify molecular biomarkers that predict treatment response.
  • The study found that complete tumor removal and proper treatment of the dural margin significantly improve survival rates, and developed a new molecular model that better predicts how patients will respond to radiotherapy compared to traditional classification methods.
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Peptide receptor radionuclide therapy (PRRT) using Lu-DOTA-TATE has recently been evaluated for the treatment of meningioma patients. However, current knowledge of the underlying radiation biology is limited, in part due to the lack of appropriate in vitro models. Here, we demonstrate proof-of-concept of a meningioma patient-derived 3D culture model to assess the short-term response to radiation therapies such as PRRT and external beam radiotherapy (EBRT).

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We describe a 46-year-old patient with an IDH-wildtype diffusely infiltrating atypical teratoid/rhabdoid tumour (AT/RT), SHH-1B molecular subtype. The unusual histology and subsequent diagnosis in an adult patient will be discussed.

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Article Synopsis
  • - Meningiomas are the most common primary brain tumors in adults, with an increasing incidence linked to aging and better neuroimaging, and while many are benign, some are aggressive and treatment-resistant, leading to serious health impacts.
  • - Recent advancements in understanding meningioma biology have introduced molecular biomarkers for diagnosis and prognosis, but a standardized molecular classification for these tumors is still lacking.
  • - A comprehensive consensus review by the International Consortium on Meningiomas aims to guide clinicians and researchers by covering proposed classifications, novel treatment strategies, ongoing studies, and unique management approaches for different patient populations.
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Purpose: Next generation sequencing (NGS) is an important tool used in clinical practice to obtain the required molecular information for accurate diagnostics of high-grade adult-type diffuse glioma (HGG). Since individual centers use either in-house produced or standardized panels, interlaboratory variation could play a role in the practice of HGG diagnosis and treatment. This study aimed to investigate the current practice in NGS application for both primary and recurrent HGG.

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Background: Novel radiotherapeutic modalities using carbon ions provide an increased relative biological effectiveness (RBE) compared to photons, delivering a higher biological dose while reducing radiation exposure for adjacent organs. This prospective phase 2 trial investigated bimodal radiotherapy using photons with carbon-ion (C12)-boost in patients with WHO grade 2 meningiomas following subtotal resection (Simpson grade 4 or 5).

Methods: A total of 33 patients were enrolled from July 2012 until July 2020.

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Surgery is the mainstay of treatment for meningioma, the most common primary intracranial tumor, but improvements in meningioma risk stratification are needed and indications for postoperative radiotherapy are controversial. Here we develop a targeted gene expression biomarker that predicts meningioma outcomes and radiotherapy responses. Using a discovery cohort of 173 meningiomas, we developed a 34-gene expression risk score and performed clinical and analytical validation of this biomarker on independent meningiomas from 12 institutions across 3 continents (N = 1,856), including 103 meningiomas from a prospective clinical trial.

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Background: The current World Health Organization (WHO) classification of brain tumors distinguishes 3 malignancy grades in meningiomas, with increasing risk of recurrence from CNS WHO grades 1 to 3. Radiotherapy is recommended by current EANO guidelines for patients not safely amenable to surgery or after incomplete resection in higher grades. Despite adequately predicting recurrence probability for the majority of CNS WHO grade 2 meningioma patients, a considerable subset of patients demonstrates an unexpectedly early tumor recurrence following radiotherapy.

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Background: Surgery is the mainstay of treatment for meningioma, the most common primary intracranial tumor, but improvements in meningioma risk stratification are needed and current indications for postoperative radiotherapy are controversial. Recent studies have proposed prognostic meningioma classification systems using DNA methylation profiling, copy number variants, DNA sequencing, RNA sequencing, histology, or integrated models based on multiple combined features. Targeted gene expression profiling has generated robust biomarkers integrating multiple molecular features for other cancers, but is understudied for meningiomas.

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Risk prediction for meningioma tumors was until recently almost exclusively based on morphological features of the tumor. To improve risk prediction, multiple models have been established that incorporate morphological and molecular features for an integrated risk prediction score. One such model is the integrated molecular-morphologic meningioma integrated score (IntS), which allocates points to the histological grade, epigenetic methylation family and specific copy-number variations.

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Article Synopsis
  • Glioblastoma (GBM) is a deadly brain tumor with no effective standard treatment upon recurrence, prompting a need for improved strategies to manage this challenging condition.
  • The GLOW study aims to include whole genome sequencing (WGS) in the standard care for GBM patients, providing tailored treatment options based on genetic insights, in collaboration with various Dutch medical centers.
  • The study will analyze outcomes based on the percentage of patients receiving targeted therapies informed by WGS, their overall survival, and other success rates, aiming to enhance treatment protocols for those facing this aggressive cancer.
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Diffuse infiltrating gliomas are the most common malignant brain tumors in adults. The 2021 World Health Organization classification for CNS tumors (CNS5 WHO) has significantly altered the rules for classification and grading of diffuse gliomas. Clinicians, including neurology residents and neurologists, will have to consider the changes that include the introduction of new tumor types, allotting established tumor types to other groups and substituting previously essential morphological features for additional molecular markers.

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Background: Meningiomas, the most common primary intracranial tumors, can be separated into 3 DNA methylation groups with distinct biological drivers, clinical outcomes, and therapeutic vulnerabilities. Alternative meningioma grouping schemes using copy number variants, gene expression profiles, somatic short variants, or integrated molecular models have been proposed. These data suggest meningioma DNA methylation groups may harbor subgroups unifying contrasting theories of meningioma biology.

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Purpose: Although standard-of-care has been defined for the treatment of glioblastoma patients, substantial practice variation exists in the day-to-day clinical management. This study aims to compare the use of laboratory tests in the perioperative care of glioblastoma patients between two tertiary academic centers-Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH), Boston, USA, and University Medical Center Utrecht (UMCU), Utrecht, the Netherlands.

Methods: All glioblastoma patients treated according to standard-of-care between 2005 and 2013 were included.

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Purpose: Meningiomas are the most frequent primary intracranial tumors. Patient outcome varies widely from benign to highly aggressive, ultimately fatal courses. Reliable identification of risk of progression for individual patients is of pivotal importance.

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Glioblastoma IDH-wildtype presents with a wide histological spectrum. Some features are so distinctive that they are considered as separate histological variants or patterns for the purpose of classification. However, these usually lack defined (epi-)genetic alterations or profiles correlating with this histology.

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Article Synopsis
  • Microglia continuously adapt to their environment using a specific set of genes known as the "sensome," which consists of highly expressed receptors on their surface.
  • The study updated the mouse microglial sensome with new RNA sequencing data and characterized the human version, identifying both similarities and differences, including a conserved set of 57 genes called the "microglia core sensome."
  • The analysis revealed that changes in the expression of these core sensome genes are unique to specific neurodegenerative diseases, emphasizing the importance of mouse models to understand human microglial biology while also acknowledging the need for species-specific research.
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Glioma cells exert influence over the tumor-microenvironment in part through the release of extracellular vesicles (EVs), membrane-enclosed structures containing proteins, lipids, and RNAs. In this study, we evaluated the function of Ras-associated protein 27a (Rab27a) in glioma and evaluated the feasibility of assessing its role in EV release in glioma cells and . Rab27a was knocked down via a short hairpin RNA (shRNA) stably expressed in mouse glioma cell line GL261, with a scrambled shRNA as control.

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Diffuse IDH-mutant astrocytoma mostly occurs in adults and carries a favorable prognosis compared to IDH-wildtype malignant gliomas. Acquired mismatch repair deficiency is known to occur in recurrent IDH-mutant gliomas as resistance mechanism towards alkylating chemotherapy. In this multi-institutional study, we report a novel epigenetic group of 32 IDH-mutant gliomas with proven or suspected hereditary mismatch repair deficiency.

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