Meningiomas are histologically and clinically diverse
CNS neoplasms with few available immunohistochemical markers of differentiation and progression. Therefore, we investigated a panel of potentially useful
meningioma-associated
biomarkers using high throughput tissue microarray immunohistochemistry (TMA-IHC) with a TMA that includes 9
hemangiopericytomas (HPCs) and 41
meningiomas spanning all grades, as well as two subsets of atypical
meningiomas, stratified according to clinical behavior.
Antibodies utilized were
progesterone receptor (PR),
epithelial membrane antigen (EMA),
cathepsin D,
E-cadherin,
platelet derived growth factor (
PDGF) receptor beta,
PDGF BB ligand,
survivin, epithelial
growth factor receptor (EGFR), and
vascular endothelial growth factor (
VEGF). In most cases, frequencies of
tumor positivity were similar to those previously reported using whole section IHC. EMA,
E-cadherin, and
PDGFR-beta staining patterns distinguished the anaplastic
meningiomas from the HPCs (P < 0.001, P = 0.02, P = 0.015, respectively). As in prior studies, PR and
cathepsin D expression were inversely proportional to
tumor grade. However, PR and EGFR were also differentially expressed between symptomatic, surgically resected
benign meningiomas and incidental
meningiomas found at autopsy. We conclude that (1) TMA-IHC is an accurate and efficient way to rapidly assess
biomarkers in
meningeal tumors, (2) EMA,
E-cadherin, and
PDGFR-beta are useful in distinguishing anaplastic
meningiomas from HPCs, and (3) the expression patterns for incidental
meningiomas differ slightly from their surgically resected symptomatic counterparts.