Gyriform infiltration as imaging biomarker for molecular glioblastomas.

Background: Molecular glioblastomas (i.e. without the histological but with the molecular characteristics of IDH-wild-type glioblastoma) frequently lack contrast enhancement, which can wrongly lead to suspect a lower-grade glioma. Herein, we aimed to assess the diagnostic value of gyriform infiltration as an imaging marker for molecular glioblastomas.

Methods: Two independent investigators reviewed the MRI scans from patients with newly diagnosed gliomas for the presence of a gyriform infiltration defined as an elective cortical hypersignal on MRI FLAIR sequence. Diagnostic test performance of this sign for the diagnosis of molecular glioblastoma were calculated.

Results: A total of 426 patients were included, corresponding to 31 molecular glioblastoma, 294 IDH-wild-type glioblastoma, 50 IDH-mutant astrocytoma, and 51 IDH-mutant 1p19q-codeleted oligodendroglioma. A gyriform infiltration was observed in 16/31 (52%) molecular glioblastoma, 40/294 (14%) IDH-wild-type glioblastoma, and none of the IDH-mutant glioma. All the 56 gyriform-infiltration-positive tumors were IDH-wild-type and all but two had a TERT promoter mutation. The inter-rater agreement was good (κ = 0.69, p < 0.001). The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value and negative predictive value of the presence of a gyriform infiltration for the diagnosis of molecular glioblastoma were 52%, 90%, 29%, 96%, respectively. The median overall survival was better for gyriform-infiltration-negative patients compared to gyriform-infiltration-positive patients in the whole series and in patients with non-enhancing lesions (n = 95) (25.6 vs 16.9 months, p = 0.005 and 20.2 months vs not reached, p < 0.001).

Conclusion: Gyriform infiltration is a specific imaging marker of molecular glioblastomas that can help distinguishing these tumors from IDH-mutant lower-grade gliomas.