Association of pleomorphic xanthoastrocytoma with cortical dysplasia and neuronal tumors: A report of three cases

Abstract

The longstanding clinical history of seizures and the existence of radiologically documented dormant lesions several years before tumor removal both suggest that PXA in these patients very likely developed in benign hamartomatous cortical lesions or in preexisting cortical dysplasia. The authors' findings, along with the consistent occurrence of PXA in the gray matter in the majority of the reported cases, indicate that these tumors may originate either from a subclass of astrocytes histogenetically and topographically associated with neurons or from multipotential neuroectodermal precursor cells common to neurons and astrocytes.