(99m)Tc-Tetrofosmin brain SPECT in the assessment of meningiomas-correlation with histological grade and proliferation index.
Meningiomas account for about 30% of all intracranial tumors. Evaluation of their proliferation rate is useful for assessing their biological behavior. We evaluated prospectively whether (99m)Tc-Tetrofosmin ((99m)Tc-TF) uptake in meningiomas correlates with cellular proliferative activity and with tumor grade. We prospectively studied 18 meningioma cases. Brain single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) by (99m)Tc-TF was performed within a week prior to surgical excision. In the excised tumor specimens we assessed Ki-67 antigen expression. 14 of 18 patients had benign meningiomas, while the remaining four had anaplastic meningiomas. A significant correlation was found between both (99m)Tc-TF uptake and tumor grade (r = 0.722, P = 0.001) and between (99m)Tc-TF uptake and Ki-67 expression (r = 0.930, P < 0.001). There was a significant correlation between the intensity of tracer uptake and tumor recurrence at 1 year postoperative (r = 0.574, P = 0.02). This pilot study implies that (99m)Tc-TF brain SPECT could prove useful in differentiating benign from anaplastic meningiomas and is a potential indicator of their proliferative activity.
Fotopoulos
Andreas D
AD
Department of Nuclear Medicine, University of Ioannina School of Medicine, P.O. Box 103, Neohoropoulo, Ioannina, 455 00, Greece.
Alexiou
George A
GA
Goussia
Ann
A
Papadopoulos
Athanasios
A
Kyritsis
Athanasios P
AP
Polyzoidis
Konstantinos S
KS
Voulgaris
Spyridon
S
Tsiouris
Spyridon
S
D000368:Aged; D001921:Brain / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000378:metabolism; D049109:Cell Proliferation; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D019394:Ki-67 Antigen / Q000378:metabolism; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008577:Meningeal Neoplasms / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000473:pathology; D008579:Meningioma / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000473:pathology; D008875:Middle Aged; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013223:Statistics as Topic; D017256:Technetium Tc 99m Sestamibi; D015899:Tomography, Emission-Computed, Single-Photon
D019394:Ki-67 Antigen; D017256:Technetium Tc 99m Sestamibi