Telomerase expression in intracranial tumours: Prognostic potential for malignant gliomas and meningiomas

Aims - To evaluate the diagnostic value of telomerase expression in intracranial tumours. Methods - 98 surgical specimens from different neoplasms were analysed by the telomeric repeat amplification protocol (TRAP) and the presence of telomerase compared with the histological diagnosis and the proliferation index. Results - A high degree of positivity for telomerase activity was found in glioblastomas and atypical/anaplastic meningiomas. Telomerase activity was poorly detected in anaplastic astrocytomas. Conclusions - The TRAP assay seems to be a valuable index for identifying meningeal tumours with aggressive behaviour.