Abstract
Background. Meningiomas are common intracranial tumors. Recently, histogenetic and phenotypic similarities between meningiomas and mesotheliomas have been proposed. We were interested in whether these similarities are reflected on the immunohistochemical level, which would add new potentially diagnostic markers for meningiomas. Methods. The expression of mesothelioma-related markers (D2-40, Calretinin, Keratin 5/6, WT1, and Methotheioma-Ab1) was investigated in 87 cases of meningiomas and compared to EMA expression. Results. 73.6% of meningioma cases were grade I, 20.7% were grade II, and 5.7% were grade III. 83.9% of meningioma cases were classical and 16.1% had special nonmeningothelial features. D2-40 was expressed in 37.9% of cases and was significantly restricted to classical meningiomas. Calretinin and WT1 were negative while Keratin 5/6 and Mesothelioma-Ab1 were weakly expressed in classical variants (5.7% and 3.4%, resp.). EMA was consistently expressed in all cases. Its expression was significantly higher than that of mesothelioma-related markers; this held true also when D2-40 expression was considered separately. Conclusions. Mesothelioma-related markers are not extensively expressed in meningiomas, a finding that argues against their proposed histogenetic and phenotypic similarities. Compared to EMA, the significantly lower expression of mesothelioma-related markers and their restricted expression to classical meningioma variants hamper their potential future use as diagnostic markers for meningioma.
Highlights
Meningiomas are among the most commonly diagnosed primary intracranial neoplasms [1]
EMA staining pattern was cytoplasmic in 32 cases (36.8%) and cytoplasmic with membranous staining in 55 cases (63.2%)
Grade I meningiomas were the most common with the transitional subtype being the most prevalent. These findings conform to previous studies [11]
Summary
Meningiomas are among the most commonly diagnosed primary intracranial neoplasms [1]. Meningiomas and mesotheliomas have dual epithelial and mesenchymal differentiation which is reflected by their immunohistochemical coexpression of epithelial and mesenchymal markers [4,5,6]. Both tumors share, on the ultrastructural level, the presence of desmosomes and intermediate filaments [2, 5, 7]. The expression of mesothelioma-related markers (D2-40, Calretinin, Keratin 5/6, WT1, and Methotheioma-Ab1) was investigated in 87 cases of meningiomas and compared to EMA expression. Mesothelioma-related markers are not extensively expressed in meningiomas, a finding that argues against their proposed histogenetic and phenotypic similarities. Compared to EMA, the significantly lower expression of mesothelioma-related markers and their restricted expression to classical meningioma variants hamper their potential future use as diagnostic markers for meningioma
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