PTEN mutations in malignant gliomas and their relation with meningeal gliomatosis.

A putative tumor suppressor, the PTEN gene at chromosome 10q23. was identified and found to be mutated in many different human tumors. PTEN was recently found to be also involved in focal cell adhesion and cell migration. To identify the role of PTEN gene in malignant gliomas. we used PCR-SSCP and direct sequencing methods to examine 44 malignant gliomas comprising 29 cases without and 15 cases with meningeal gliomatosis. In malignant gliomas without meningeal gliomatosis, 2/29 (7%) of the cases showed alteration of the PTEN gene. In contrast, 5/15 (33%) of malignant gliomas with meningeal gliomatosis cases showed this alteration. These findings indicate that PTEN gene mutation contributes not only to the neoplastic evolution in gliomas but also to the meningeal dissemination of glioma cells.