PTEN mutations in malignant gliomas and their relation with meningeal gliomatosis

A putative tumor suppressor, the PTEN gene at chromosome 10q23, was identif ied and found to be mutated in many different human tumors. PTEN was recent ly found to be also involved in focal cell adhesion and cell migration. To identify the role of PTEN gene in malignant gliomas, we used PCR-SSCP and d irect sequencing methods to examine 44 malignant gliomas comprising 29 case s without and 15 cases with meningeal gliomatosis. In malignant gliomas wit hout meningeal gliomatosis, 2/29 (7%) of the cases showed alteration of the PTEN gene. In contrast, 5/15 (33%) of malignant gliomas with meningeal gli omatosis cases showed this alteration. These findings indicate that PTEN ge ne mutation contributes not only to the neoplastic evolution in gliomas but also to the meningeal dissemination of glioma cells.