title: Role of her-2/neu overexpression and clinical features at presentation as predictive factors in meningiomas.
abstract: Prediction of outcome in patients with meningiomas remains a significant problem to date. We have evaluated the role of symptoms at presentation and overexpression of her-2/neu overexpression as independent prognostic factors in meningiomas. In a retrospective study on patients with biopsy-proven diagnosis of meningioma, her-2/neu overexpression was evaluated using immunohistochemistry (IHC) performed on paraffin-embedded specimens. An IHC score of > or =2+ was considered positive for overexpression. Two hundred thirty-seven patients thus identified between January 1986 and December 1999 included 149 females and 88 males, with a mean age of 63.44 years. Survival was estimated using the Kaplan-Meier method. Incidence of meningiomas in females (62.8%) was significantly greater than in males. Focal neurodeficits, headache, and seizures (39.66%) were the most common presenting complaints and were not related to tumor behavior/outcome. Syncope at presentation was associated with a decreased survival, but this symptom constituted only 2.53% of the total, so reliable conclusions could not be drawn. Only 6 (2.53%) specimens revealed HER-2/neu overexpression by IHC. HER-2/neu overexpression is not a predictor of tumor behavior and has no role as a prognostic factor in meningiomas. Syncope as the clinical presentation at diagnosis may predict a poor outcome, but needs further investigation.
authors.affiliation: Division of Hematology, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC, USA. anil.potti@duke.edu
authors.forename: Anil
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Potti
authors.forename: Amit
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Panwalkar
authors.forename: Eric
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Langness
authors.forename: Kaley
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Sholes
authors.forename: Ketki
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Tendulkar
authors.forename: Siddarth
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Chittajalu
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Koch
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D008577:Meningeal Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000401:mortality; D008579:Meningioma / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000401:mortality; D008875:Middle Aged; D011379:Prognosis; D018719:Erb-b2 Receptor Tyrosine Kinases / Q000378:metabolism*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D016019:Survival Analysis; D013575:Syncope / Q000209:etiology
chemical_list: D018719:Erb-b2 Receptor Tyrosine Kinases