Recurrence in meningeal hemangiopericytomas

BACKGROUND Meningeal hemangiopericytomas are more aggressive than typical meningiomas, with a high rate of recurrence and distant metastases. The question of whe ther a correlation exists between prognosis and histologic features remains controversial. CASE DESCRIPTION We report two cases of recurrent meningeal hemangiopericytomas. Although lo cal growth control of the tumor was obtained by tumor removal and irradiati on in a 38-year-old male patient (Case 1) with a recurrent tentorial tumor, the tumor disseminated and metastasized extracranially within a short peri od after treatment,leading to rapid deterioration. Another 38-year-old fema le patient (Case 2) with a recurrent orbital tumor had a favorable outcome after tumor removal. The Ki-67 proliferative index using the MIB-1 monoclon al antibody increased as the tumor recurred in Case 1 (2.5%, 7.9%, and 15.7 %), but did not change between primary and recurrent tumors of Case 2 (4.2% , 3.1%). Immunostaining for p53 protein in Case 1 was negative at the first resection, and became positive at the second and third resections, whereas in Case 2, it was negative in both the primary and recurrent tumors. CONCLUSIONS Our results suggest that p53 protein accumulation with a high proliferative potential is a useful marker to estimate malignant progression in meningea l hemangiopericytomas. (C) 1998 by Elsevier Science Inc.