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Updated: Jun 10, 2026
On-Site Sampling and Extraction of Brain Tumors for Metabolomics and Lipidomics Analysis
Published on: May 31, 2020
Genomic hallmarks of depot medroxyprogesterone acetate-associated meningiomas
Sakibul Huq1, Taylor A Gatesman1, Hussam Abou-Al-Shaar1
1Department of Neurological Surgery, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Background:
Population-based studies have linked progestin exposure to increased meningioma risk. However, the molecular basis of meningiomas associated with depot medroxyprogesterone acetate (DMPA) - a common injectable contraceptive-remains undefined.
Methods:
We performed an integrated clinicopathologic and genomic analysis of meningiomas from 10 women with long-term DMPA exposure. Tumors underwent histopathological analysis, targeted sequencing, and DNA methylation profiling. Data were integrated with reference cohorts (Baylor and Heidelberg) and analyzed through classifier assignment, consensus clustering, copy number analysis, differential methylation testing, and dimensionality reduction.
Results:
DMPA-associated meningiomas were all newly diagnosed, WHO grade 1 tumors with a predilection for the anterior and central skull base (n = 6). Nine patients harbored multiple meningiomas. Four experienced regression of untreated meningiomas following DMPA cessation, while five demonstrated stabilization. Histopathology demonstrated relative overrepresentation of metaplastic morphology, an uncommon meningioma subtype. All DMPA-associated meningiomas mapped to benign molecular groups, and most exhibited low copy number alteration burden. Targeted sequencing revealed enrichment for TRAF7 mutations (n = 5), with no NF2 mutations detected. Eight tumors shared consensus cluster identity, with cohesive grouping on principal component analysis and t-distributed stochastic neighbor embedding. No differential methylation was identified at the progesterone receptor locus.
Conclusions:
DMPA-associated meningiomas represent a recognizable phenotype within the broader NF2-wildtype/TRAF7-enriched spectrum of benign meningiomas, characterized by chromosomal stability, a shared methylation profile, tumor multiplicity, and regression or stabilization following DMPA cessation. While derived from a small single-institution cohort, these findings provide a molecular framework for understanding progestin-associated meningioma biology, re-interpreting epidemiologic literature, and informing population-level risk stratification.
