Loss of chromosome 1p/19q in oligodendroglial tumors: refinement of chromosomal critical regions and evaluation of internexin immunostaining as a surrogate marker.

Loss of chromosome 1p/19q in oligodendrogliomas represents a powerful predictor of good prognosis. Expression of internexin (INA), a neuronal specific intermediate filament protein, has recently been proposed as a surrogate marker for 1p/19q deletion based on the high degree of correlation between both parameters in oligodendrogliomas. The aim of this study was to assess further the diagnostic utility of INA expression in a set of genetically well-characterized oligodendrogliomas. On the basis of a conservative approach for copy number determination, using both comparative genomic hybridization and fluorescent in situ hybridization, INA expression as a surrogate marker for 1p/19q loss had both reduced specificity (80%) and sensitivity (79%) compared with respective values of 86% and 96% reported in the previous report. The histologic interpretation and diagnostic value of INA expression in oligodendrogliomas should therefore be assessed with greater caution when compared with 1p/19q DNA copy number analysis. In addition, DNA copy number aberrations of chromosomes 10, 16, and 17 were detected exclusively in 1p/19q codeleted samples, suggesting that other regions of the genome may contribute to the 1p/19q-deleted tumor phenotype inthese samples.