Proliferation and proto-oncogene expression in 19 meningiomas of typical and atypical histology were analyzed in an attempt to understand the mechanism of growth that characterizes the neoplastic process in these tumors. Proliferation was estimated as the proliferative index by the enumeration of S-phase cells in imprints of tumor tissue exposed to bromodeoxyuridine in vitro, and the gene expression of c-myc, c-fos, c-src, c-H-ras, N-myc, acidic and basic fibroblast growth factor, insulin-like growth factors I and II, platelet-derived growth factor-alpha, and epidermal growth factor was quantified by messenger ribonucleic acid dot-blot hybridization assay. Atypical and malignant tumors had significantly higher proliferative indexes than did their nonmalignant counterparts. Levels of c-myc and c-fos messenger ribonucleic acid were elevated more than fivefold in 72 and 78% of the tumors, respectively, relative to the lowest levels detected in the series. Levels of growth factor messenger ribonucleic acid were sporadically elevated; 37 to 44% of tumors had more than fivefold enhanced levels of acidic and basic fibroblast growth factor. Positive correlations between proliferation and proto-oncogene/growth factor expression were found for c-myc in atypical/malignant tumors and for epidermal growth factor in fibroblastic meningiomas. Deregulated expression of c-myc and c-fos common to both typical and atypical tumors suggests that these are early events in the meningioma tumor process that may disturb the control of cell differentiation and together with fibroblast growth factors are likely to endow the transformed cell with a selective growth advantage by reducing the requirement for exogenous mitogens and by providing a niche for the growth of the tumor clone. Positive correlation of c-myc levels with proliferation in atypical/malignant meningiomas implies that this is a feature of malignancy and indicates continued disruption of the negative regulation of proto-oncogene expression, perhaps by tumor suppressor gene losses, during the course of tumor progression.