Paul Kleihues talks with
ScienceWatch.com and answers a few questions about
this month's Fast Breaking Paper in the field of
Neuroscience & Behavior.
Article Title: The 2007 WHO classification of
tumours of the central nervous system
Authors: Louis, DN;Ohgaki, H;Wiestler, OD;Cavenee,
WK;Burger, PC;Jouvet, A;Scheithauer, BW;Kleihues, P
Journal: ACTA NEUROPATHOL
Volume: 114
Issue: 2
Page: 97-109
Year: AUG 2007
* Univ Zurich Hosp, Dept Pathol, CH-8091 Zurich,
Switzerland.
* Univ Zurich Hosp, Dept Pathol, CH-8091 Zurich,
Switzerland.
(addresses have been truncated)
Why do you think your paper is highly
cited?
The reason for the popularity of this article is not due to scientific
novelty but rather to its usefulness for the cancer research and clinical
oncology communities.
Would you summarize the significance of your paper in
layman's terms?
It summarizes the current status of brain tumour diagnosis, with major
emphasis on surgical pathology and genetic profiles. It contains a concise
description of new tumor entities contained in the 4th edition of the
WHO Classification of Tumours of the Central Nervous System,
published by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) in
2007.
This book series was initiated by the World Health Organization (WHO) in
1957 and has achieved its major goal: to establish a classification and
grading of human tumors that is accepted and used worldwide. Without
clearly defined clinical and histopathological diagnostic criteria and,
more recently, genetic and expression profiles, epidemiological studies and
clinical trials would be difficult to conduct and would not be comparable
among different centers, countries, and world regions.
The book is also essential for cancer registries as it forms the basis for
histologically and genetically stratified population-based data on
incidence, mortality, and survival rates of human tumors.
How did you become involved in this research, and which
future trends do you envision in brain tumor research?
I have been scientifically interested in brain tumors throughout my
professional career and I was Editor of the 2nd (1993) and 3rd (2000)
Editions of the WHO Classification. Future research on brain tumor
diagnosis will include genetic and expression profiles of individual tumors
since this will form the basis for personalized treatment with novel
targeted therapies. We anticipate that this will lead to an improvement of
the prognosis of patients with malignant brain tumors, which is currently
still very poor.
Professor Paul Kleihues, M.D.
Department of Pathology
University Hospital Zurich
Zurich, Switzerland
Keywords: who classification of tumours of the central nervous
system, international agency for research on cancer, cancer research,
clinical oncology, classification and grading of human tumors, clinical
and histopathological diagnostic criteria, population-based data,
incidence, mortality, survival rates, malignant brain tumors.