Epidemiology of Intracranial Meningioma : Neurosurgery (original) (raw)

Topic Review: Epidemiology: Tumor

Claus, Elizabeth B. M.D., Ph.D.; Bondy, Melissa L. Ph.D.; Schildkraut, Joellen M. Ph.D.; Wiemels, Joseph L. Ph.D.; Wrensch, Margaret Ph.D.; Black, Peter M. M.D., Ph.D.

Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut (Claus)

Department of Neurosurgery, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts (Claus, Black)

Department of Epidemiology, M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas (Bondy)

Department of Community and Family Medicine, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, North Carolina (Schildkraut)

Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of California at San Francisco, School of Medicine, San Francisco, California (Wiemels, Wrensch)

Department of Neurosurgery, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts ()

Reprint requests: Elizabeth B. Claus, M.D., Ph.D., Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, Yale University School of Medicine, 60 College Street, PO Box 208034, New Haven, CT 06520-8034. Email: [email protected]

Received, December 1, 2003.

Accepted, July 22, 2005.

Abstract

Meningiomas are the most frequently reported primary intracranial neoplasms, accounting for approximately 25% of all such lesions diagnosed in the United States. Few studies have examined the risk factors associated with a diagnosis of meningioma with two categories of exposure, hormones (both endogenous and exogenous) and radiation, most strongly associated with meningioma risk. Limited data are also available on long-term outcomes for meningioma patients, although it is clear that the disease is associated with significant morbidity and mortality. Recent legislation passed in the United States (The Benign Brain Tumor Cancer Registries Amendment Act [H.R. 5204]) mandates registration of benign brain tumors such as meningioma. This will increase the focus on this disease over the coming years as well as likely increase the reported prevalence of the disease. The increased emphasis on research dedicated to the study of brain tumors coupled with the advent of new tools in genetic and molecular epidemiology make the current era an ideal time to advance knowledge for intracranial meningioma. This review highlights current knowledge of meningioma epidemiology and new directions for research efforts in this field.