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Review
. 2022 Dec 19;14(24):6251.
doi: 10.3390/cancers14246251.

Current Knowledge on Spinal Meningiomas Epidemiology, Tumor Characteristics and Non-Surgical Treatment Options: A Systematic Review and Pooled Analysis (Part 1)

Victor Gabriel El-Hajj  1 , Jenny Pettersson-Segerlind  1 , Alexander Fletcher-Sandersjöö  1 , Erik Edström  1 , Adrian Elmi-Terander  1   2
Affiliations
Review

Current Knowledge on Spinal Meningiomas Epidemiology, Tumor Characteristics and Non-Surgical Treatment Options: A Systematic Review and Pooled Analysis (Part 1)

Victor Gabriel El-Hajj et al. Cancers (Basel). .

Abstract

Background: Spinal meningiomas are the most common primary intradural spinal tumors. Although they are a separate entity, a large portion of the knowledge on spinal meningiomas is based on findings in intracranial meningiomas. Therefore, a comprehensive review of all the literature on spinal meningiomas was performed.

Methods: Electronic databases were searched for all studies on spinal meningiomas dating from 2000 and onward. Findings of matching studies were pooled to strengthen the current body of evidence.

Results: A total of 104 studies were included. The majority of patients were female (72.83%), elderly (peak decade: seventh), and had a world health organization (WHO) grade 1 tumor (95.7%). Interestingly, the minority of pediatric patients had a male overrepresentation (62.0% vs. 27.17%) and higher-grade tumors (33.3% vs. 4.3%). Sensory and motor dysfunction and pain were the most common presenting symptoms. Despite a handful of studies reporting promising findings associated with the use of non-surgical treatment options, the literature still suffers from contradictory results and limitations of study designs.

Conclusions: Elderly females with WHO grade 1 tumors constituted the stereotypical type of patient. Compared to surgical alternatives, the evidence for the use of non-surgical treatments is still relatively weak.

Keywords: WHO grade; epidemiology; non-surgical treatment options; radiation; spinal meningiomas; tumor characteristics.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest. The funders had no role in the design of the study; in the collection, analyses, or interpretation of data; in the writing of the manuscript; or in the decision to publish the results.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
PRISMA flow chart illustrating the study selection process.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Distribution of the four most common meningioma subtypes as reported by the studies.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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