Correspondence of tumor localization with tumor recurrence and cytogenetic progression in meningiomas.
OBJECTIVE
Meningiomas are mostly benign tumors that originate from the coverings of the brain and spinal cord. Cytogenetically, they reveal a normal karyotype or, typically, monosomy of chromosome 22. Progression of meningiomas is associated with a non-random pattern of secondary losses of other autosomes. Deletion of the short arm of one chromosome 1 is a decisive step to anaplastic growth in meningiomas.


METHODS
Statistical analyses were performed for the karyotypes of 661 meningiomas with respect to localization, progression, and recurrence of the tumor. A mathematical mixture model estimates typical pathogenetic routes in terms of the accumulation of somatic chromosome changes in tumor cells. The model generates a genetic progression score (GPS) that estimates the prognosis as related to the cytogenetic properties of a given tumor.


RESULTS
In 53 patients, one or several recurrences were documented over the period of observation. This corresponds to a total rate of recurrence of 8.0% after macroscopically complete tumor extirpation. Higher GPS values were shown to be strongly correlated with tumor recurrence (P = 2.9 x 10(-7)). High-risk tumors, both in terms of histology and cytogenetics, are localized much more frequently at the brain surface than at the cranial base (P = 1.2 x 10(-5) for World Health Organization grade and P = 3.3 x 10(-12) for GPS categorization).


CONCLUSIONS
The tendency of cranial base meningiomas to recur seems to depend on surgical rather than biological reasons. As a quantitative measure, the GPS allows for a more precise assessment of the prognosis of meningiomas than the established categorical cytogenetic markers.
Ketter
Ralf
R
Department of Neurosurgery, Saarland University, Homburg/Saar, Germany. ncrket@uniklinik-saarland.de
Rahnenführer
Jörg
J
Henn
Wolfram
W
Kim
Yoo-Jin
YJ
Feiden
Wolfgang
W
Steudel
Wolf-Ingo
WI
Zang
Klaus D
KD
Urbschat
Steffi
S
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002869:Chromosome Aberrations; D003582:Cytogenetics; D018450:Disease Progression; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D007621:Karyotyping; D008297:Male; D008577:Meningeal Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology*; D008579:Meningioma / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D009364:Neoplasm Recurrence, Local; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D012189:Retrospective Studies