Associations of pathological diagnosis and genetic abnormalities in meningiomas with the embryological origins of the meninges

Abstract Certain driver mutations and pathological diagnoses are associated with the anatomical site of meningioma, based on which the meninges have different embryological origins. We hypothesized that mutations and pathological diagnoses of meningiomas are associated with different embryological origins. We comprehensively evaluated associations among tumor location, pathological diagnosis (histological type), and genetic alterations including AKT1, KLF4, SMO, POLR2A, and NF2 mutations and 22q deletion in 269 meningioma cases. Based on the embryological origin of meninges, the tumor locations were as follows: neural crest, paraxial mesodermal, and dorsal mesodermal origins. Tumors originating from the dura of certain embryologic origin displayed a significantly different pathological diagnoses and genetic abnormality ratio. For instance, driver genetic mutations with AKT1, KLF4, SMO, and POLR2A, were significantly associated with the paraxial mesodermal origin (p = 1.7 × 10−10). However, meningiomas with NF2-associated mutations were significantly associated with neural crest origin (p = 3.9 × 10–12). On analysis of recurrence, no difference was observed in embryological origin. However, POLR2A mutation was a risk factor for the tumor recurrence (p = 1.7 × 10−2, Hazard Ratio 4.08, 95% Confidence Interval 1.28–13.0). Assessment of the embryological origin of the meninges may provide novel insights into the pathomechanism of meningiomas.