Molecular Characteristics of Pediatric Ependymomas: A Systematic Review

The prognosis for patients diagnosed with ependymoma is relatively poor, with a 5-year overall survival rate of 24–75%. Currently, tumors are treated by surgical resection followed by radiotherapy, as resection is the most consistent prognostic marker (up to 80%). Therefore, there is a pressing need to improve our understanding of the biology of these tumors and to develop new therapeutic targets. The present work was a systematic review of the current molecular knowledge of pediatric ependymomas. From January 2000 to December 2017, we carried out a search using “MeSH” (Medical Subject Heading), and “free-text” protocols in the databases Medline/PubMed, SCOPUS, Web of Science, and EMBASE (OVID platform), combining the terms chromosomal alterations, genetic changes, epigenetic changes, and protein expression changes. We selected articles with samples from pediatric patients and chose publications with complete clinical features. Only 33 articles met the criteria for a meta-analysis, suggested by the state of methylation and expression of a characteristic marker of pediatric ependymomas. We found a chromosomal alteration and one gene associated with survival; these are candidates for bad prognosis biomarkers.