Abstract:
- BACKGROUND: Meningiomas that are progesterone
receptor positive have a low recurrence rate and good
prognosis compared to those that are progesterone re ceptor negative. This study aimed to determine the preva lence of expression of progesterone in meningiomas and
its association with clinicopathological characteristics.
- MATERIALS AND METHODS: This was a cross-sectional
laboratory-based study that was conducted at Muhimbili
National Hospital. The study included 112 formalin-fixed
paraffin-embedded tissue blocks of patients who were
confirmed to have meningiomas on histological basis from
January 2010 to December 2014. Immunohistochemical
expression of progesterone receptor was tested using a pri mary monoclonal progesterone receptor antibody ready to
use (IR 068 Dako). The c2 test was used to determine the
association between clinicopathological characteristics and
progesterone receptor expression. A 2-tailed P < 0.05 was
considered significant.
- RESULTS: The mean age of the patients was 45.5 3.601
years, and majority (66.1%, n [ 74) were in the age group
between 31 and 60 years. Also, majority of the patients
(60%, n [ 67) in this study were females. Over one-third of
the cases (34.8%, n [ 39) comprised of meningotheliom atous subtype, and majority of the cases (89.3%, n [ 100)
were of grade I. The prevalence of progesterone expres sion was 54.5% (n [ 61), and only age was associated
with progesterone receptor expression (P [ 0.043).
- CONCLUSION: The finding of high expression of the
progesterone receptor for grade I cases in this study
indicates that progesterone receptor expression in
meningiomas is of prognostic value and may be considered
when evaluating patients for management. Lack of
expression of progesterone receptor in all the malignant
cases is intriguing and needs further studies that can
investigate its prognostic role.
