Microarray gene expression profiling is a high-throughput system used to identify differentially expressed genes and regulation patterns, and to discover new tumor markers. As the molecular pathogenesis of meningiomas and schwannomas, characterized by NF2 gene alterations, remains unclear and suitable molecular targets need to be identified, we used low density cDNA microarrays to establish exp...

BACKGROUND Retroperitoneal schwannomas are rare, usually benign tumors that originate in the neural sheath and account for only a small percentage of retroperitoneal tumors. The aim of this clinical study is to present our experience in managing retroperitoneal schwannomas with a review of the current literature and to point out the surgical technical difficulties we faced, due to the tumor's s...

UNLABELLED To report a case of segmental schwannomatosis involving the dorsal and lumbar spine and describe its excision as well as review of literature on schwannomatosis involving the spine. SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA Schwannomas are nerve sheath tumours which usually occur as solitary lesions. Presence of multiple schwannomas suggests a genetic predisposition to tumorogenesis and possible ...

Schwannomas otherwise referred to as neurilemmomas are benign, slowly progressing, encapsulated tumors arising from Schwann cells in the peripheral nerve sheath. They may grow along any peripheral or cranial nerve. Amongst the cranial nerve schwannomas, the eigth cranial nerve is the commonest site. But orbit is a rare site for their occurrence. Solitary orbital schwannomas account for 1% of or...

Schwannomas are tumors derived from nerve sheath cells, which are often located in the head and neck, including the CNS. Although a definitive vascular pattern has been previously characterized for these lesions, preoperative embolization of the more vascular schwannomas has not been described. In a review of eight patients with schwannomas who underwent angiography at our institution since 198...

Schwannomas are tumors originating from Schwann cells in the nerve sheath. Although they can appear on many parts of the body, they occur most frequently in the head and neck. Furthermore, they are very rarely seen in the retroperitoneal region. Ancient schwannoma is a sub-type of schwannomas that is quite rare. In this study, the case of a retroperitoneal ancient schwannoma, which showed cysti...

Vestibular schwannomas are benign neoplasms that arise from the vestibular nerve. The hallmark of these tumors is the biallelic inactivation of neurofibromin 2 (NF2). Transcriptomic alterations, such as the neuregulin 1 (Nrg1)/ErbB2 pathway, have been described in schwannomas. In this study, we performed a whole transcriptome analysis in 31 vestibular schwannomas and 9 control nerves in the Aff...

BACKGROUND Inactivation of the NF2 gene predisposes to neurofibromatosis type II and the development of schwannomas. In vitro studies have shown that loss of NF2 leads to the induction of mitogenic signaling mediated by receptor tyrosine kinases (RTKs), MAP kinase, AKT, or Hippo pathways. The goal of our study was to evaluate the expression and activity of these signaling pathways in human schw...

Although somatostatin receptors have been detected in many normal and neoplastic tissues, little is known of their expression and function in peripheral nerve tumors. In the present study, we examined the expression of all 5 somatostatin receptor subtypes (sst1-5) in 3 normal peripheral nerves, 3 traumatic neuromas, 27 schwannomas, 18 neurofibromas, and 177 malignant peripheral nerve sheath tum...

We studied 25 cases of schwannoma and 42 cases of neurofibroma immunohistochemically with antibodies to calretinin and S-100 protein to explore the potential usefulness of calretinin in differentiating schwannomas from neurofibromas. Of 25 schwannomas, 24 (96%) showed moderate to strong staining for calretinin, with the extent of staining ranging from focal to diffuse. In contrast, only 3 (7%) ...