Combination therapy with steroids in patients with meningioma of the brain

Purpose. To evaluate the effect of combined estrogen-progestin drugs (CEPD) in patients with meningioma of the brain on the frequency of continued growth in the postoperative period. Material and methods. A prospective study was conducted, including 55 patients with an intact uterus, who underwent neurosurgical treatment and received histological confirmation of the diagnosis of meningioma of the brain. The studied patients were divided into 2 groups: group I (control) had a history without taking CEPD (35/63.6%), group II (main) had a history of taking CEPD (20/36.4%). The age of the patients included in the study ranged from 35 to 53 years old. The effect of taking, duration of treatment and the relationship with recurrence were analyzed for 5 years after surgical treatment. Results. Continued growth was detected in 16.6% of patients in group I and 16% in group II) over the course of 5 years. Despite the absence of statistically significant differences between the two groups, a correlation was found between the duration of taking CEPD and continued growth in the postoperative period: the longer the patient took CEPD, the higher the probability of continued growth (r=0,595, p=0,009). Patients taking CEPD are characterized by a denser consistency and abundant vascularization of meningioma (p<0.05). Conclusion. The taking of CEPD is an undeniable factor affecting such morphological characteristics of the tumor as consistency and vascularization. Long-term administration of CEPD to patients is a risk factor for continued meningioma growth in the postoperative period.
Key words: meningioma of the brain, continued growth, combined-estrogen-progestin drugs
Conflict of interest. The authors have no conflicts of interest.
Funding. Absent.