Intraventricular Meningiomas: Clinical-Pathological and Genetic Features of a Monocentric Series

Serena Ammendola1, Michele Simbolo1, Chiara Ciaparrone1

  • 1Dipartimento di Diagnostica e Sanità Pubblica, Università degli studi di Verona, 371234 Verona, Italy.

Insights

Intraventricular meningiomas (IVMs) are rare brain tumors. The study found NF2 mutations in most cases, suggesting targeted therapies may offer alternatives to surgery for recurrent tumors.

Area of Science:

  • Neuro-oncology
  • Molecular Pathology
  • Genetics

Background:

  • Intraventricular meningiomas (IVMs) are rare, typically low-grade brain neoplasms with a low recurrence rate.
  • Surgical resection, while standard, carries risks of life-threatening complications and a 4% mortality rate.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To define the molecular landscape of IVMs.
  • To identify potential therapeutic targets for these rare tumors.

Main Methods:

  • Next-generation sequencing was employed to analyze mutations, copy number variations (CNVs), and tumor mutational burden (TMB) in six IVM cases.
  • A panel of 409 cancer-related genes was investigated.

Main Results:

  • NF2 mutations were identified as the sole recurring genetic alteration, present in three of the six IVMs.
  • One case also showed a SMARCB1 mutation. No cases were hypermutated (TMB > 10 mutations/Mb).

Conclusions:

  • NF2 mutations in IVMs suggest potential utility of targeted therapies, similar to those used in other NF2-mutant tumors, as alternatives to surgery or radiosurgery.
  • The low TMB indicates these tumors are unlikely to respond to immune checkpoint inhibition.

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