Expression of estrogen receptors alpha and beta in human meningiomas

The predominance of meningiomas in females, their accelerated growth during the luteal phase of the menstrual cycle and during pregnancy; and the association between meningiomas and breast cancer has led to a number of studies examining the potential role of steroids on the growth of meningiomas. It is generally agreed that the majority of meningiomas possess the progesterone and androgen receptor. There are numerous discrepancies in the literature among the results for estrogen receptor (ER). The aim of this study was to examine the expression of ER-alpha mRNA and the recently described novel ER, ER-beta in meningiomas. Using reverse transcription and polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) Southern blot analysis thirty-four meningiomas were examined for the presence of ER-alpha and ER-beta. Forty-four percent of meningiomas showed a strong band for ER-beta mRNA and sixty-eight percent of meningiomas showed a strong band for ER-alpha mRNA. The involvement of ER-beta in meningioma biology should be examined further, given the differences in the ER-alpha and ER-beta gene products.