Meningiomas: A review of general, histopathological, clinical and molecular characteristics.

OBJECTIVES: In this review, the main histological and molecular characteristics of meningiomas will be addressed, as well as the aspects most related to clinical conditions, treatment, and survival of patients, enabling a better understanding of these tumors behavior. METHODS: This study was conducted with the search for published studies available on NCBI, PubMed, MEDLINE, Scielo and Google Scholar. Relevant documents have been identified and 50 articles were selected. RESULTS: The main points about meningiomas were characterized, as well as the histological presence of spontaneous necrosis in grade I and brain invasion as diagnostic criteria, their molecular origin related to deletion of chromosome 22 and mutations in theNF2 and TERT genes, in addition to their clinical characteristics. The preferential treatment remains the total resection of the tumor. CONCLUSION: The information about meningiomas is well known and necessary, but it is expected that more work will emerge related to the behavior of these tumors, and that the scientific community will obtain more clarity about the best ways to conduct the patients treatment.