Prevalence of mitochondrial DNA common deletion in patients with gliomas and meningiomas: A first report from a Malaysian study group

BACKGROUND The 4977-bp common deletion (mtDNA) is a well-established mitochondrial genome alteration that has been described in various types of human cancers. However, to date, no studies on mtDNA in brain tumors have been reported. The present study aimed to determine mtDNA prevalence in common brain tumors, specifically, low- and high-grade gliomas (LGGs and HGGs), and meningiomas in Malaysian cases. Its correlation with clinicopathological parameters was also evaluated. METHODS A total of 50 patients with pathologically confirmed brain tumors (13 LGGs, 20 HGGs, and 17 meningiomas) were enrolled in this study. mtDNA was detected by using PCR technique and later confirmed via Sanger DNA sequencing. RESULTS Overall, mtDNA was observed in 16 (32%) patients and it was significantly correlated with the type of tumor group and sex, being more common in the HGG group and in male patients. CONCLUSION The prevalence of mtDNA in Malaysian glioma and meningioma cases has been described for the first time and it was, indeed, comparable with previously published studies. This study provides initial insights into mtDNA in brain tumor and these findings can serve as new data for the global mitochondrial DNA mutations database.