Expression of mesothelioma-related markers in meningiomas: an immunohistochemical study

Our plain-English summary of Expression of mesothelioma-related markers in meningiomas: an immunohistochemical study, by E. Abdelzaher, D.M. Abdallah (BioMed Research International, 2014).

The study

• Authors: E. Abdelzaher, D.M. Abdallah
• Journal: BioMed Research International
• Published: 2014;2014:968794
• Cited by: 6 articles, as counted by NIH iCite
• Read it: PubMed · Publisher · Free full text

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.

In plain English

This laboratory study from the University of Alexandria in Egypt examined meningiomas, tumors arising inside the skull from the membranes covering the brain. It did not study asbestos or any other exposure. Some researchers had proposed that meningiomas resemble mesotheliomas. To test this, the authors stained tumor tissue from 87 meningiomas from Egyptian patients for five markers used to identify mesothelioma: D2-40, Calretinin, Keratin 5/6, WT1 and Mesothelioma Ab-1. They compared the results with EMA, a marker already used to diagnose meningioma. EMA was positive in all 87 cases. D2-40 was positive in 33 cases (37.9%), all of them classical meningiomas; none of the special types stained. Keratin 5/6 was positive in 5 cases (5.7%) and Mesothelioma Ab-1 in 3 cases (3.4%). Calretinin and WT1 were negative in every case. EMA was positive significantly more often than the mesothelioma-related markers. It also had significantly higher total staining scores, which combined the share of cells stained with staining intensity. The authors concluded that these markers are not extensively expressed in meningiomas, which argues against the proposed similarity between the two tumors. They also concluded that the markers cannot be relied on to diagnose meningioma.

We wrote this plain-English summary from the full article with the help of AI, and a second AI model checked each sentence against the article. It is not the authors' wording; the abstract and the article are their own account.

What the study did and found

• Design: Retrospective immunohistochemical (tissue staining) study of stored tumor samples
• Who was studied: 87 meningioma cases from Egyptian patients aged 20 to 80, 67.8% female, all with tumors inside the skull. 64 cases (73.6%) were WHO grade I, 18 (20.7%) grade II and 5 (5.7%) grade III. 73 cases (83.9%) were classical types and 14 (16.1%) special types. Study years are not stated.
• Exposure: No asbestos or other environmental or occupational exposure was studied. The study tested meningioma tissue for five mesothelioma-related markers (D2-40, Calretinin, Keratin 5/6, WT1, Mesothelioma Ab-1) and compared them with EMA.
• Main results:
  • EMA was positive in all 87 meningioma cases (100%).
  • D2-40 was positive in 33 of 87 cases (37.9%).
  • D2-40 staining occurred only in classical meningiomas and not in special types. This difference was statistically significant (P = 0.002).
  • Keratin 5/6 was positive in 5 cases (5.7%) and Mesothelioma-Ab1 in 3 cases (3.4%). Both were found only in transitional and meningothelial types.
  • Calretinin and WT1 were negative in all 87 cases.
  • The total staining score added the proportion of stained cells to the staining intensity. The median total score was significantly highest for EMA. D2-40's score was significantly lower than EMA's but higher than those of the other four mesothelioma-related markers.
  • D2-40 expression was not significantly related to tumor location or grade.
• The authors' conclusion: The authors concluded that mesothelioma-related markers are not extensively expressed in meningiomas, which argues against the proposed histogenetic and phenotypic similarities between meningiomas and mesotheliomas. They also concluded that these markers cannot be relied on to diagnose meningioma, while EMA, although not specific, remains superior.

Topics

The National Library of Medicine indexes this study under subjects our site covers: Mesothelioma.

Medical terms in this study, explained in our Lexicon: Mesothelioma, Podoplanin (D2-40), Calretinin.

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