Forecasting Molecular Features in IDH-Wildtype Gliomas: The State of the Art of Radiomics Applied to Neurosurgery

Simple Summary The prognostic expectancies of patients affected by glioblastoma have remained almost unchanged during the last thirty years. Along with specific oncological research and surgical technical alternatives, corollary disciplines are requested to provide their contributions to improve patient management and outcomes. Technological improvements in radiology have led to the development of radiomics, a new discipline able to detect tumoral phenotypical features through the extraction and analysis of a large amount of data. Intuitively, the early foreseeing of glioma features may constitute a tremendous contribution to the management of patients. The present manuscript analyzes the pertinent literature regarding the current role of radiomics and its potentialities. Background: The fifth edition of the WHO Classification of Tumors of the Central Nervous System (CNS), published in 2021, marks a step forward the future diagnostic approach to these neoplasms. Alongside this, radiomics has experienced rapid evolution over the last several years, allowing us to correlate tumor imaging heterogeneity with a wide range of tumor molecular and subcellular features. Radiomics is a translational field focused on decoding conventional imaging data to extrapolate the molecular and prognostic features of tumors such as gliomas. We herein analyze the state-of-the-art of radiomics applied to glioblastoma, with the goal to estimate its current clinical impact and potential perspectives in relation to well-rounded patient management, including the end-of-life stage. Methods: A literature review was performed on the PubMed, MEDLINE and Scopus databases using the following search items: "radiomics and glioma", "radiomics and glioblastoma", "radiomics and glioma and IDH", "radiomics and glioma and TERT promoter", "radiomics and glioma and EGFR", "radiomics and glioma and chromosome". Results: A total of 719 articles were screened. Further quantitative and qualitative analysis allowed us to finally include 11 papers. This analysis shows that radiomics is rapidly evolving towards a reliable tool. Conclusions: Further studies are necessary to adjust radiomics' potential to the newest molecular requirements pointed out by the 2021 WHO classification of CNS tumors. At a glance, its application in the clinical routine could be beneficial to achieve a timely diagnosis, especially for those patients not eligible for surgery and/or adjuvant therapies but still deserving palliative and supportive care

Mesogenic metal alkylthioporphyrins for the formation of Langmuir-Blodgett films

The spreading monolayers at the air-water surface of the mesogenic, discotic copper(II) derivatives of 2,3,7,8,12,13,17,18-octakis(alkylthio)porphyrin (CuTAP) have been characterized with the aim of finding the best experimental conditions for fabricating Langmuir-Blodgett (LB) films with columnar aggregates having significant mono- and/or bidimensional properties. The spreading isotherms of pure metal compounds were interpreted in terms of inhomogeneous, rigid surface films, not suitable for LB film deposition. A better transfer was reached with mixtures (e.g. molar ratio) of Cu-TAP with the film forming stearic acid, thus obtaining stable and reproducible LB films with more than 300 layers. The film maintained a disordered state of columnar aggregates as proved by electron spin resonance and UV-visible spectroscopy

Monolayers and Langmuir-Blodgett films of a new lutetium(III)-bis-octakis(alkylthio)tetraazaporphyrin

We studied the properties of the monolayers and deposition behaviour of a new member of the group of bis-porphyrin complexes of rare earth metals, namely the newly fabricated lutetium(III) bis-2,3,7,8,12,13,17,18-octakis(butylthio) tetraazaporphyrinato, as a pure compound and in mixture with cadmium stearate, in the light of their magnetic, semiconducting and gas sensing properties. In both cases the molecules assumed a tilted edge-on orientation at the liquid-air interface, with the molecular rings perpendicular to the water surface, as deduced from π−A isotherms. Multilayer Langmuir-Blodgett (LB) films were successfully built up only when the bis-porphyrin molecules were mixed with cadmium stearate. Electronic absorption spectra using plane-polarized light indicated isotropy in the plane of the film, i.e. the axes of the molecules were randomly oriented in this plane. The peak width at half-height for the Q band increased on passing from the chloroform solution to the LB films of pure and mixed compounds, indicating different degrees of molecular packing. A single electron spin resonance line was given by the chloroform solution of the molecule and it was also maintained in the mixed LB film

Thin Films from Polyazamacrocycles: Preparation and Spectroscopic Characterization

The Langmuir-Blodgett films have received increasing interest in the last years and many papers and patents have appeared in the literature. This review analyzes the results obtained mainly in the author's laboratories from mono- and multilayer film built up with polyazamacrocycles, included symmetrically and unsymmetrically substituted tetraazaporphyrins and tetraazaannulenes. Metal derivatives and free bases have been employed. The characterization of the various systems has been carried out with electron spin resonance (ESR) and optical spectroscopy

Thermodynamic and spectral properties of monolayers and Langmuir-Blodgett films of the nickel compound of an amphiphilic tetraazaannulene derivative

The properties of the monolayer of the nickel compound with the amphiphilic, macrocyclic ligand 6,13-bis(he.adecanoyl)-6,7,12,14-tetramethyldibenzo[b,iltetraza[l4lannulenNe,i( dhtmdbTM1, onto a water eubphaee surface has been studied from the spreading isotherm. The beat conditione for the transference of the monolayers as Langmuir-Blodgett (LB) film on a solid support have been found. From optical spectra and transference ratios, the LB film was regular and homogeneous. The use of isotropic and polarized light allowed us to establish that a structural transition from a probable edge-on arrangement of the macrocycle at the air/water interface to an almost flat arrangement occurred during the thin, multilayer film build up

Monolayer and multilayer films of differently substituted metal tetraazaannulene complexes

The properties of monolayers and multilayers of nickel(II) compounds with the dinaphtho derivative of the macrocycle ligand dinaphtho{b,i}5,7,12,14-tetramethyltetraaza[14]annulene with one and two hexadecanoyl chains on the water surface and onto a solid support have been studied from a thermodynamic and spectroscopic point of view and the results were compared with those from the dibenzo analogues. The molecular plane showed a tilted edge-on orientation at the air-water interface. The spreading monolayers were stable with time and their stability was almost independent of the compound used. The presence of hysteresis in the compression-expansion-compression cycles indicated an incomplete reversibility. Films prepared with the monohexadecanoyl macrocycle metal derivatives were regular and homogeneous whereas the occurrence of two alkyl chains on the ring resulted in a monolayer too viscous to be transferred

Synthesis and physico-chemical properties of the bis(2,3,7,8,12,13,17,18-octakis-(octhylthio)-5,10,15,20-tetraazaporphyrinato)lutetium(III) complex

The synthesis and the physico-chemical properties of the bis(2,3,7,8,12,13,17,18-octakis-(octhylthio)-5,10,15,20-tetraazaporphyrinato)lutetium(III) double-decker complex, Lu(OOTTAP)2, are described, ESR, 1H and 13C NMR, UV-visible and NIR studies show that radical nature of this compound and suggest that the unpaired electron cannot be assigned to a specific tetra-azaporphyrinic ring on the time scales available. Some relevant UV-visible spectroscopic and redox features of Lu(OOTTAP)2 resemble closely those of diphthalocyanine complexes, while the intensity and vibrational structure of the NIR spectra are rather reminiscent of those of bis-porphyrin systems

Growth morphologies during 2D solidification of Langmuir monolayers limited by both surface and bulk diffusion

We present fluorescence microscopy observations of growing two-dimensional solid domains in alcohol monolayers spread on a subphase containing a soluble fatty acid (p{K}a=4.5). The morphologies are highly branched when $p{\rm H}>p{K}a$, and almost compact in the opposite case. For $p{\rm H}>p{K}a$ the 2D growth is limited by the 2D diffusion of fluorescent impurities, whereas for $p{\rm H}<p{K}a$ the growth is limited by fatty acid "impurities” diffusing in the subphase as well. A theoretical analysis shows that, unlike the traditional similarity solution where a planar front advances like $\sqrt{t}$, bulk diffusion leads to the existence of a planar front moving at a constant velocity, governed by the residence time of soluble impurities at the surface. An exact solution for this planar front and its stability is provided analytically. We also show numerical results bearing resemblence with the experimental patterns