[The role of diagnostic neuropathology in familial tumour syndromes]

Abstract

Inherited cancer syndromes often involve the central and peripheral nervous system. For the surgical neuropathologist the possibility in individual patients of a familial tumour syndrome needs to be considered in the case of special tumours such as malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumour (MPNST), medulloblastoma with extensive nodularity (MBEN) or even atypical teratoid/rhabdoid tumour (AT/RT) of the brain. Furthermore, tumour location and patient age may point to a familial tumour syndrome as in the case of neurofibromatosis type 2 (NF2) with typical bilateral vestibular schwannoma in young age. This short review discusses some of the diagnostic aspects in this field relating to neurofibromatosis type 1 and 2 (NF1, NF2), as well as the two rare tumors MBEN in Gorlin-Goltz syndrome and AT/RT in particular.