Pilomyxoid astrocytomas: a short review

Abstract

Pilomyxoid astrocytoma is a variant of pilocytic astrocytoma and the clinical, histological and molecular data point to a very close relationship as well as a more aggressive biological behavior for the former. WHO 2016 classification does not provide a specific grade for these neoplasms, but there is sufficient evidence in the literature that pilomyxoid astrocytoma has slightly worse prognosis than typical pilocytic astrocytoma. There is increasing evidence that in addition to the MAPK pathway alterations, pilomyxoid astrocytomas harbor genetic alterations that distinguish them from typical pilocytic astrocytoma