Heat shock proteins as diagnostic and prognostic markers in malignant tumors of the central nervous system

This review overview current epidemiology data of malignant tumors of the central nervous system, and determines the significance of molecular diagnostics and expression of heat shock proteins in tumorigenesis. Particular attention is paid to the description of molecular chaperones as diagnostic and prognostic markers, as well as the prospects for chaperones using in personalized therapy the central nervous system tumors. The search for literature was carried out on the database platforms Medline (via PubMed) and Scopus, Cochrane Library, The Lancet Public Health Journal published between 1988 and 2022. The material was searched for keywords and terms, including “heat shock proteins”, “tumors of the central nervous system”, “brain tumors”, “molecular diagnostics”, “expression of molecular chaperones”, Hsp110, Hsp90, Hsp70, Hsp60, Hsp40, small HSPs. Molecular chaperones, due to their important role in physiological processes in the cell, are highly expressed in brain tumors, and the expression level of HSPs strongly correlates with the degree of malignancy, invasive potential, and resistance to radiochemotherapy. For some HSPs (i.e. HSP10, HSPB1, DNAJC10, HSPA7, HSP90) a direct correlation has been found between the level of protein expression (based on IHC analysis) and a poor overall survival prognosis for patients with glial tumors. This indicates the prognostic value of these markers, which in the future may be included in the diagnostic panel when examining a tumor sample.