The role of osteopontin and its receptor in meningioma development and progression.

Meningiomas are common in intracranial tumors, the majority of which are benign with slow growth and low recurrence rate. The aim of the present study was to assess the role of osteopontin and its receptor CD44 (Cluster of differentiation -44) in meningioma development and progression. A total of 2 groups were included, namely an experimental group with 54 meningioma patients and a control group with 30 patients with internal and external decompression. The disease group included subjects, from whom meningioma tissue specimens were collected during surgery for tumor excision, whereas the control group included subjects who were subjected to scalp laceration and provided normal meninx tissues. The expression of osteopontin and CD44 was determined by immunohistochemistry. Osteopontin expression was negative in normal meninx, and its expression was increased in meningioma tissues (P less than 0.05). The positive expression of osteopontin increased according to the histological grade of meningioma (r=0.417, P less than 0.001). A highly significant difference was noted between non-invasive and invasive meningiomas (P less than 0.001). The positive expression of CD44 correlated with the grade of meningioma and its invasiveness (P less than 0.05), although it exhibited no correlation with the degree of peritumoral edema (r=0.033, P>0.05). The increased expressions of osteopontin and CD44 were observed in all grades of meningioma, and correlated with its development (r=0.961, P less than 0.001). Osteopontin and CD44 play important roles in the development and progression of meningioma and can be used as prognostic markers for tumor recurrence and progression as well as therapeutic targets for the development of new drugs.