Ganglioglioma Clinical Outcomes and Imaging Techniques

Gangliogliomas are rare, typically low-grade glioneuronal tumours that most often present in children and young adults with seizures or focal neurological deficits. Surgical resection remains the cornerstone of management, with gross total resection associated with excellent long-term seizure control and survival rates approaching 90–100 per cent at ten years. Tumour recurrence and malignant transformation are uncommon but correlate with subtotal resection and certain molecular alterations. Advances in magnetic resonance imaging have improved preoperative characterisation, guiding surgical planning and prognostication. Conventional MRI sequences remain essential for lesion detection and anatomical mapping, while diffusion-weighted imaging and perfusion techniques aid in distinguishing tumour subtypes and assessing cellularity. Emerging modalities such as amino acid PET and functional MRI are increasingly employed to delineate tumour borders, identify eloquent cortex, and monitor postoperative residual disease. Integration of clinical, radiological and molecular data is refining risk stratification and informing tailored therapeutic strategies worldwide.

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Ganglioglioma Clinical Outcomes and Imaging Techniques publication trend

The graph below shows the total number of articles in ganglioglioma clinical outcomes and imaging techniques across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).

Technical terms

Gross total resection (GTR): complete surgical removal of all visible tumour on imaging or at operation.

Apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC): a quantitative MRI metric derived from diffusion-weighted imaging that reflects water mobility within tissue, aiding assessment of tumour cellularity.

BRAFV600E mutation: an activating point mutation in the BRAF gene (valine to glutamic acid at codon 600), driving MAP kinase pathway dysregulation and influencing prognosis and targeted therapy suitability.

Progression-free survival (PFS): the interval during and after treatment in which a patient experiences no detectable tumour growth or clinical deterioration attributable to the neoplasm.

References

1. Neurosurgical treatment of gangliogliomas in children and adolescents: long-term follow-up of a single-institution series of 32 patients. Acta Neurochirurgica (2018).
2. Low‐grade gangliogliomas in adults: A population‐based study. Cancer Medicine (2020).
3. Relative ADC and Location Differ between Posterior Fossa Pilocytic Astrocytomas with and without Gangliocytic Differentiation. American Journal of Neuroradiology (2016).