IMR Press / JIN / Volume 20 / Issue 2 / DOI: 10.31083/j.jin2002049
Open Access Perspective
Meningioma genomics: a therapeutic challenge for clinicians
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1 Division of Neurosurgery, Department of Surgery, American University of Beirut Medical Center, 11-0236 Beirut, Lebanon
2 Faculty of Medicine, American University of Beirut Medical Center, 11-0236 Beirut, Lebanon
3 Faculty of Medicine, Beirut Arab University, 11072809 Beirut, Lebanon
4 Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics, Faculty of Medicine, American University of Beirut, 11-0236 Beirut, Lebanon
*Correspondence: io04@aub.edu.lb (Ibrahim Omeis)
J. Integr. Neurosci. 2021, 20(2), 463–469; https://doi.org/10.31083/j.jin2002049
Submitted: 15 December 2020 | Revised: 25 February 2021 | Accepted: 17 March 2021 | Published: 30 June 2021
Copyright: © 2021 The Author(s). Published by IMR Press.
This is an open access article under the CC BY 4.0 license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
Abstract

Meningiomas are amongst the most commonly encountered intracranial tumors. The majority of these tumors arise intracranially, and the remaining incidents occur along the spinal cord. Meningiomas tend to grow gradually, with many tumors arising in inaccessible locations. Such sporadic behavior poses a therapeutic challenge to clinicians, causing incomplete tumor resections that often lead to recurrence. Therefore, ongoing research seeks to find alternative systematic treatments for meningiomas, with gene-based therapeutics of high interest. Subsequently, genetic studies characterized frequent somatic mutations in NF2, TRAF7, KLF4, AKT1, SMO, and PIK3CA. These genes are communally exhibited in 80% of sporadic meningiomas. In addition, other genes such as the DUSP family, the NR4 family, CMKOR, and FOSL2, have been identified as key players in spinal meningiomas. In this perspective, we aim to investigate current genetic-based studies, with the ongoing research mainly focused on the above NF2, TRAF7, KLF4, AKT1, SMO, and PIK3CA genes and their involved pathways. In addition, this perspective can serve as a potential cornerstone for future genetic analyses of meningioma cases.

Keywords
Genetics
Cranial meningioma
Spinal meningioma
Somatic mutations
Gene-targeting therapy
Neurology
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