Objective: To describe the histopathological characteristics and immunohistochemical expression of SSTR2A in meningioma, and to explore associations between SSTR2A expression and clinicopathological features.
Subjects and methods: A cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted on 118 patients who underwent tumour resection with a confirmed histopathological diagnosis of primary meningioma (with adjunct immunohistochemistry in atypical cases) at the Department of Pathology, Viet Duc University Hospital, from January 2025 to June 2026. Tumours were graded according to the 2021 WHO classification and stained for SSTR2A, scored using the system proposed by Barresi et al. (ID score = intensity score [IS, 4 levels, 0-3] × positive-area score [ASP, 5 levels, 0-4], range 0-12).
Results: Mean age was 55.3 ± 13.3 years; female-to-male ratio was 2.8/1. WHO grade 1, 2 and 3 tumours accounted for 80.5%, 16.9% and 2.5%, respectively; meningothelial (33.1%) and fibrous (22.0%) were the commonest subtypes. Male sex and larger tumour size were significantly associated with higher WHO grade (p < 0.001). All 118 cases (100%) were SSTR2A-positive; 63.6% showed strong expression (ID 9-12). ID did not differ significantly across WHO grades (p = 0.29), but was significantly lower in the fibrous subtype compared with meningothelial, transitional and atypical subtypes (p < 0.01).
Conclusion: SSTR2A is almost universally expressed in meningioma at variable intensity, independent of WHO grade but tending to be lower in the fibrous subtype. These findings support the value of SSTR2A as a diagnostic and potential therapeutic-target biomarker in meningioma.