Transcription profiling of human astrocytic tumours of grades I, II, III and IV

This study aims at investigating differential gene expression in human astrocytic tumours of grades I, II, III and IV. A total of 65 tumours were assessed using the Affymetrix U133A GeneChip. The study aims not only at discovering the main expression differences between astrocytic tumours of distinct histological grades but also wishes to correlate these findings with the known histopathological hallmarks of astrocytoma progression. Further, the study aims at correlating gene expression with previously obtained genomic information for several loci known to be involved in astrocytoma tumour progression.