Investigating the role of biomarkers using liquid biopsy in the diagnosis of meningiomas.

Aim: Meningiomas are the most common type of primary brain tumor found in adults. While magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is commonly used to diagnose meningiomas, determining the tumor grade is challenging. Tumor grading is essential for selecting the most appropriate treatment and determining the extent of surgical resection when surgery is performed. Other than histological analysis obtained through surgical resection, there is no established method to grade meningiomas using liquid biopsy. Although studies have examined the expression of c-MYC, FABP7, GATA4, and MAOB in tumor tissues, their expression in serum has not been fully explored. This study aimed to evaluate the diagnostic potential of these genes in meningioma patients by analyzing their expression in serum samples.

Material And Methods: The study included 20 patients who underwent surgical resection for intracranial meningiomas. Tumor and serum samples were collected during the surgical procedure. Real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) was performed to measure the expression of FABP7, GATA4, c-MYC, and MAOB in both tumor tissues and serum samples.

Results: The expression levels of MAOB, c-MYC, and GATA4 were significantly higher in grade 2 meningioma tumor tissues compared to grade 1 tumors (p=0.031, p=0.041, and p=0.003, respectively). Similarly, patients with grade 2 meningiomas had significantly higher MAOB expression in their serum compared to patients with grade 1 meningiomas (p=0.032). In addition, the serum levels of FABP7 and MAOB were significantly higher in meningioma patients compared to healthy controls (p 0.05).

Conclusion: The findings of this study suggest that FABP7 and MAOB expression in serum may serve as diagnostic markers for meningiomas. However, additional studies with larger cohorts are necessary to validate these results.