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Glucocorticoid hormone high affinity binding activity has been demonstrated in human brain tumor cell extracts by radiolabelled ligand assay. To determine the molecular species responsible for this activity and their cellular distribution, we studied by in situ hybridization, with a human glucocorticoid receptor (hGR) cDNA digoxigenin probe, the expression of hGR mRNA in 10 brain tumors (3 astrocytomas, 1 glioblastoma, 1 neurinoma, 3 meningiomas, 1 choroid plexus papilloma, 1 ependymoma). All tumors, with the exception of the glioblastoma and one fibroblastic meningiomas, contained hGR positive neoplastic cells. The intensity of positivity varied between different tumors and within the same tumor. These results indicate, for the first time, the presence of true hGR receptor mRNA in human brain tumor cells.

Glucocorticoids, mainly dexamethasone (Dex) and methylprednisolone (Mp) are widely used as supportive therapy in the management of intracranial tumors. Their action on cells depends, in part, on the presence of a specific intracellular receptor (glucocorticoid receptor, GR) that binds the hormone leading to a sequence of biological events. In this study, we evaluated the presence of GR and its biological role in neuroepithelial tumors. Tumoral samples from 25 glioblastomas, 18 anaplastic astrocytomas and 14 astrocytomas were analyzed. Glucocorticoid specific binding proteins were detected in 38.6% of the cases using the dextran-coated charcoal method. A correlation was found between grade of anaplasia, sex, and GR positivity. The biological role of this receptor was investigated in 11 primary cell cultures derived from neuroepithelial tumors. For this purpose, different concentrations of Dex and Mp were added to the culture medium. When Dex doses ranging from 2 to 0.016 μg/ml were utilized, a significant stimulation of the cell growth was observed in receptor positive cultures. At the same doses, no modulation of the cell growth was observed in receptor negative cultures. Same responses were obtained when Mp was added to the culture medium.

A group of 23 clinical characteristics were tested with a stepwise logistic regression analysis to assess which group of factors best predicts the probability of survival of patients operated for intracranial meningioma. Ten clinical characteristics were tested with Kaplan-Meier curves and with Cox proportional hazard model to verify which best correlated with increased recurrence rate. Our results demonstrated that some multisystemic diseases like diabetes, hypertension, and some operative complications like hematoma were significantly related to an increased risk of operative mortality. The factors that heavily influenced the recurrence rate of meningiomas were the type of surgery and the histotype of the tumor.