The expression of fatty acid metabolism-associated proteins is correlated with the prognosis of meningiomas. Meningioma is a common tumor of the nervous system; however, reliable prognostic markers for meningioma are currently insufficient. High fatty acid synthase (FAS) expression occurs in many tumors, and is associated with tumor progression and grade. Few studies have previously investigated fatty acid metabolism in meningioma; thus, in this study, we investigated the expression of FAS and brain fatty acid-binding protein (BFABP) proteins in all grades of meningioma and determined the association to meningioma grade, invasiveness, recurrence, and progression. We determined expression levels of FAS and BFABP in all grade meningiomas by immunohistochemical analysis in 314 patients diagnosed with meningioma. The expression levels of FAS and BFABP increased significantly in correlation with meningioma grade (p < 0.01). Compared with benign meningioma, the expression levels of FAS and BFABP were significantly higher in brain invasive meningioma (p < 0.01). Compared with nonrecurrent meningioma (benign meningioma), the expression of FAS was also increased in recurrent meningioma (p < 0.01). The expression of fatty acid metabolism-associated proteins potentially correlates with meningioma grade, invasiveness, aggressiveness, and recurrent status and provides evidence for a novel therapeutic target for meningioma.
Keywords: Fatty acid synthase; brain fatty acid-binding protein; meningioma.
© 2013 APMIS. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.