title: Fatty acid synthase is a predictive marker for aggressiveness in meningiomas.
abstract: Meningiomas are the most frequent intracranial tumors. Although most are benign WHO grade I tumors, grade II and III tumors are aggressive and survival is poor. Treatment options for grade II and III meningiomas are limited, and molecular targets are few. The re-programming of metabolic pathways including glycolysis, lipogenesis, and nucleotide synthesis is a hallmark of the physiological changes in cancer cells. Because fatty acid synthase (FAS), the enzyme responsible for the de-novo synthesis of fatty acids, has emerged as a potential therapeutic target for several cancers, we investigated its involvement in meningiomas. We subjected 92 paraffin-embedded samples from 57 patients with grade I, 18 with grade II and III, and six with radiation-induced tumors to immunohistochemical study of FAS. Whereas its expression was increased in grade II and III meningiomas (62.9 %) compared with grade I tumors (29.8 %) (chi-squared test: p < 0.001), FAS was expressed in grade I tumors with a high MIB-1 index and infiltration into surrounded tissues. All radiation-induced meningiomas expressed FAS and its expression was positively correlated with the MIB-1 index (p < 0.005). Our findings suggest that increased FAS expression reflects the aggressiveness of meningiomas and that it may be a novel therapeutic target for treatment of unresectable or malignant tumors.
authors: Department of Neurosurgery, Faculty of Medicine, Kumamoto University, 1-1-1 Honjo, Kumamoto, 860-8556, Japan. kmakino@fc.kuh.kumamoto-u.ac.jp
authors: Keishi
authors: K
authors: Makino
authors: Hideo
authors: H
authors: Nakamura
authors: Taku-ichiro
authors: T
authors: Hide
authors: Shigetoshi
authors: S
authors: Yano
authors: Jun-Ichiro
authors: J
authors: Kuroda
authors: Ken-Ichi
authors: K
authors: Iyama
authors: Jun-Ichi
authors: J
authors: Kuratsu
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000378:metabolism*; D064429:Fatty Acid Synthases / Q000378:metabolism*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008577:Meningeal Neoplasms / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000401:mortality; D008579:Meningioma / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000401:mortality; D008875:Middle Aged; D009381:Neoplasms, Radiation-Induced / Q000201:enzymology / Q000473:pathology; D011379:Prognosis; D012737:Sex Factors; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D016019:Survival Analysis; D013997:Time Factors; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D064429:Fatty Acid Synthases