Molecular classification and grading of meningioma

• Published in: Journal of neuro-oncology Vol. 161; no. 2; pp. 373 - 381
• Main Authors: Nasrallah, MacLean P., Aldape, Kenneth D.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York Springer US 01.01.2023; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Aged; Biological Products; Brain cancer; Central nervous system; Central Nervous System Neoplasms; Classification; Copy number; DNA methylation; Genomics; Histopathology; Humans; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Meningeal Neoplasms - pathology; Meningioma; Meningioma - pathology; Neoplasm Grading; Neurology; Oncology; Patients; Retrospective Studies; Review; Tumors; Molecular classification; Meningioma; Methylation profiling; Copy number variants
• ISSN: 0167-594X; 1573-7373; 1573-7373
• DOI: 10.1007/s11060-022-04228-9

Purpose Meningiomas are the most common primary intracranial tumor in older adults (Ostrom et al. in Neuro Oncol 21(Suppl 5):v1–v100, 2019). Treatment is largely driven by, in addition to patient characteristics and extent of resection/Simpson grade, the World Health Organization (WHO) grading of meningiomas. The current grading scheme, based predominantly on histologic features and only limited molecular characterization of these tumors (WHO Classification of Tumours Editorial Board, in: Central nervous system tumours, International Agency for Research on Cancer, Lyon, 2021), (Mirian et al. in J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry 91(4):379–387, 2020), does not consistently reflect the biologic behavior of meningiomas. This leads to both under-treatment and over-treatment of patients, and hence, suboptimal outcomes (Rogers et al. in Neuro Oncol 18(4):565–574). The goal of this review is to synthesize studies to date investigating molecular features of meningiomas as they relate to patient outcomes, in order to clarify best practices in assessing and, therefore, treating meningiomas. Methods The available literature of genomic landscape and molecular features of in meningioma was screened using PubMed. Results Greater understanding of meningiomas is reached by integrating histopathology, mutational analysis, DNA copy number changes, DNA methylation profiles, and potentially additional modalities to fully capture the clinical and biologic heterogeneity of these tumors. Conclusion Diagnosis and classification of meningioma is best accomplished using a combination of histopathology with genomic and epigenomic factors. Future classification schemes may benefit from such an integrated approach.