Abstract
BACKGROUND: Gliomas are the deadliest malignant tumors of the adult central nervous system. We previously discovered that beta2-microglobulin (B2M) is abnormally upregulated in glioma tissues and that it exerts a range of oncogenic effects. Besides its tissue presence, serum B2M levels serve as biomarkers for various diseases. This study aimed to explore whether serum B2M levels can be used in the diagnosis and prognosis of gliomas. METHODS: Medical records from 246 glioma patients were retrospectively analyzed. The relationship between preoperative serum B2M levels and clinicopathological features was examined. Kaplan-Meier analysis, alongside uni- and multivariate Cox regression, assessed the association between B2M levels, systemic inflammatory markers, and glioma patient prognosis. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis evaluated the diagnostic significance of these biomarkers specifically for glioblastoma (GBM). RESULTS: Patients with malignant gliomas exhibited elevated preoperative serum B2M levels. Glioma patients with high serum B2M levels experienced shorter survival times. Multivariate Cox analysis determined the relationship between B2M levels (hazard ratio = 1.92, 95% confidence interval: 1.05-3.50, P = 0.034) and the overall survival of glioma patients. B2M demonstrated superior discriminatory power in distinguishing between GBM and non-GBM compared to inflammation indicators. Moreover, postoperative serum B2M levels were lower than preoperative levels in the majority of glioma patients. CONCLUSIONS: High preoperative serum B2M levels correlated with malignant glioma and a poor prognosis. Serum B2M shows promise as a novel biomarker for predicting patient prognosis and reflecting the therapeutic response.