Age, preoperative tumor volume and widening of the internal acoustic meatus are independent factors associated with poor preoperative hearing in vestibular schwannoma patients - results of a single-center retrospective analysis.

Preoperative hearing function shows wide variations among patients diagnosed with vestibular schwannoma. Besides the preoperative tumor size there are other factors that influence the preoperative hearing function that are frequently discussed. A comprehensive analysis of a large cohort of vestibular schwannomas has the potential to describe new insights and influence the preoperative management. We analyzed clinical factors, imaging data and the expression of the proliferation marker MIB1 as potential influencing factors on the preoperative hearing function in a retrospective cohort of 523 primary sporadic vestibular schwannomas. The results of the preoperative audiometry were quantified using the Gardner-Robertson Score. Uni- and multivariate analyses were performed. Serviceable hearing (Gardner-Robertson class 1 or 2) was documented in 391 patients (74.8%). Factors associated with non-serviceable hearing (Gardner-Robertson class 3-5) were patients of older age (p < 0.0001), larger preoperative tumor volume (p = 0.0013) and widening of the internal acoustic meatus compared to the healthy side (p = 0.0353). Gender and differences in the expression of the proliferation marker MIB1 had no influence on preoperative hearing. In the multivariate nominal logistic regression older age (OR 27.60 (CI 9.17-87.18), p < 0.0001), larger preoperative tumor volume (OR 20.20 (CI 3.43-128.58), p = 0.0011) and widening of the internal acoustic canal (OR 7.86 (CI 1.77-35.46), p = 0.0079) remained independent factors associated with non-serviceable hearing. Widening of the internal acoustic canal is an independent factor for non-serviceable preoperative hearing in vestibular schwannoma patients together with older age and larger preoperative tumor volume.

Correction: Gonçalves et al. Macrophage and Lymphocyte Infiltration Is Associated with Volumetric Tumor Size but Not with Volumetric Growth in the Tübingen Schwannoma Cohort. Cancers 2021, 13, 466.

The authors would like to make a correction to their published paper [...].

Macrophage and Lymphocyte Infiltration Is Associated with Volumetric Tumor Size but Not with Volumetric Growth in the Tübingen Schwannoma Cohort.

Most patients with vestibular schwannomas can be cured with microsurgical resection, or tumor growth can be stabilized by radiotherapy in certain cases. Recurrence is rare but usually difficult to treat. Treatment alternatives to local therapies are not established. There is growing evidence of the role of inflammatory processes in schwannomas, which may be exploitable by targeted innovative therapies. To further define the impact of inflammation with tumor growth in vestibular schwannoma, we performed immunohistochemical analyses of CD3, CD8, CD68 and CD163 to assess lymphocyte and macrophage infiltration in 923 tumor tissue samples of surgically resected vestibular schwannomas. An inflammatory score was compared with tumor size and volumetric growth. We observed a significantly larger preoperative tumor size with increased expression rates of CD3, CD8, CD68 and CD163 (p < 0.0001, p < 0.0001, p = 0.0015 and p < 0.0001, respectively), but no differences in percentual volumetric tumor growth. When all four markers were combined as an inflammatory score, tumors with high inflammatory infiltration showed slower percentual growth in a multivariate analysis, including MIB1 expression (p = 0.0249). We conclude that inflammatory cell infiltration increases with larger tumor size but is associated with slower percentual volumetric tumor growth.