Atypical and anaplastic meningioma: outcomes in a population based study

Atypical and anaplastic meningiomas (AAM) are aggressive tumors. This study is aimed at examining associations between patient and tumor-related factors and tumor-related death in patients with AAM. We conducted a population-based cohort study utilizing prospectively collected data from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database. Patients with diagnosis of AAM from 1973 to 2012 in the SEER database were included. Patients lacking clinical information were excluded. Multivariate analysis between patient and lesion characteristics, and AAM-related death was performed to adjust for confounding factors. We identified and included 522 patients in our study. Mean age at diagnosis was 60.8 ± 15.7 years. The majority of patients were White(73%), 15.5% Black, and 9.8% Asian. Average tumor size was 48.2 ± 20.3 mm. The tumor was locally confined in 57.1%, whereas it had intracranial extension in 29.3%, and extracranial extension in 8.8% of patients. The vast majority (94.8%) of tumors were supratentorial. Gross total resection (GTR) was documented in 65.5% of patients. Age at diagnosis (p = 0.001), tumor size (p = 0.003), surgery result (GTR vs. subtotal resection, p = 0.027), and radiation therapy (p = 0.2) were found to be significantly different between the comparison groups. In a multivariate proportional competing risk regression analysis age (HR 1.03, CI [1.01,1.04], p < 0.001), infratentorial location (HR 2.81, CI [1.20, 6.56], p = 0.017), tumor size (HR 1.01, CI [1.00,1.02], p = 0.032),and radiation treatment (HR 1.52, CI [1.11, 2.09], p = 0.01) were significantly associated with tumor-related death. The association of age at diagnosis, tumor size, location, and radiotherapy with overall survival in patients with AAM is demonstrated. The results provide a context for individualized treatment plans in patients with AAM. Additional studies focusing on issues such as the use of radiation and chemotherapy will clarify the best modality to achieve disease control.