Recently, the World Health Organization (WHO) classification of tumours of the central nervous system (CNS) has brought essential changes. The currently valid revised WHO 2016 classification of CNS tumours introduced the concept of integrated dia-gnostics, which incorporated not only histopathological morphological finding and immunophenotype but also molecular-genetic characteristics of the tumour. Thus, the final integrated dia-gnosis comprises the traditional morphological and growth pattern characteristics of a tumour including histopathological grade and also specific molecular bio-markers. The classification of tumour based on a combination of both tumour phenotype and genotype enables more precise prognostic stratification, increases the objectivity of dia-gnostics and prediction of response to treatment. In 2017, an international platform, The Consortium to Inform Molecular and Practical Approaches to CNS Tumor Taxonomy - not official WHO (cIMPACT-NOW), was established to create and formulate practical recommendations for integrated dia-gnostics of CNS tumours and upcoming WHO classification. The incorporation of molecular bio-markers into the integrated dia-gnostics radically changed the classification of diffuse gliomas, which include entities with different morphological characteristics, genetic alterations and bio-logical behaviour. This review article summarizes essential morphological, immunophenotypical and molecular genetic characteristics of diffuse gliomas within the scope of integrated dia-gnostics according to the valid WHO classification of tumours of the CNS and subsequent recommendations of dia-gnostic approaches. This work was supported by grant of the Ministry of Health of the Czech Republic - Conceptual Development of a Research Organization (MMCI 00209805) and Grant Agency of Masaryk University (MUNI/A/1562/2018). The authors declare they have no potential conflicts of interest concerning drugs, products, or services used in the study. The Editorial Board declares that the manuscript met the ICMJE recommendation for biomedical papers.
Keywords: WHO 2016; diffuse gliomas; integrated diagnosis.