Women with meningioma have a 10-fold higher risk of developing breast cancer than women in the general population, according to a meta-analysis published in JAMA Network Open.
“These findings suggest that female patients with meningioma should be screened more intensively for breast cancer,” researchers wrote.
They noted that a “potential relationship between meningioma and breast cancer was suggested 70 years ago. However, to date, no conclusive evidence is available on this topic.”
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To provide more evidence, the researchers analyzed studies of women diagnosed with meningioma and breast cancer. The team sought to determine if there was an increased prevalence of meningioma in women with breast cancer or an increased prevalence of breast cancer in women with meningioma.
The meta-analysis included 18 studies — 8 for patients with meningioma, 5 for patients with breast cancer, and 5 in which researchers conducted a bidirectional analysis.
In patients with meningioma, the data revealed a nearly 10-fold greater prevalence of breast cancer compared with the baseline prevalence of breast cancer in the general population (odds ratio, 9.87; 95% CI, 7.31-13.32).
In the breast cancer patients, the prevalence of meningioma was greater than that seen in the general population, but the random effects model did not reach statistical significance (odds ratio, 1.41; 95% CI, 0.99-2.02).
The researchers suggested some potential explanations for the association between meningioma and breast cancer, such as hormone receptor expression in both diseases, adverse effects of radiation and hormone therapy, and overactivation of MYC.
The researchers also acknowledged several limitations of the meta-analysis, including a lack of information about the first diagnosed tumor, histology, hormone receptor expression, time between diagnoses, and age at diagnosis.
“Undoubtedly, further research is required to unravel the potential risk factors related to the cooccurrence of benign meningioma and malignant breast cancer, and the findings from this meta-analysis should be considered for implementation in guidelines regarding screening for these 2 diseases in female patients, specifically screening for breast cancer in female patients with meningioma,” the researchers wrote.
Reference
Degeneffe A, De Maertelaer V, De Witte O, et al. The association between meningioma and breast cancer: A systematic review and meta-analysis. JAMA Netw Open. Published online June 16,2023. doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2023.18620
This article originally appeared on Cancer Therapy Advisor
