Estrogen and Progesterone Receptors in Meningioma

Kim, Dal Soo; Kang, Joon Ki; Song, Jin Un

Abstract

Cytosolic estrogen receptor(ER) and progesterone receptor(PR) were studied in 18 meningiomas using dextran-coated charcol method. Significant levels of ER were found in only one tumor of the 8 male patients and four tumors of the 10 female patients. Six of the 10 tumors in women had significant PR levels, while none of the 8 tumors in men had significant PR level. Three out of four patients with multiple meningiomas had significant level of both PR & ER, whereas three and two of 14 patients with single meningioma had significant levels of PR and ER, respectively. Interestingly, the highest level of PR(215 fM/ml) was found in a recurrent, malignant meningioma. However there was no correlation between the amount of hormone receptors and patient's age, menopausal staus, peritumoral edema, location of tumor, histological type, and size of tumor. These findings raise the possibility that endocrine manipulations may be of use in the treatment of meningioma, especially in cases with multiple, malignant, unresectable or recurrent tumor.