Immunological Analysis of Vestibular Schwannoma Patients

BACKGROUND: Vestibular schwannoma is a benign intracranial tumor of the vestibulocochlear nerve. Although it is a well-known pathology, growth factors and cytokine changes in vestibular schwannoma patients have not been totally elucidated. The objective of our study was to evaluate the concentration changes of transforming growth factor beta1, vascular endothelial growth factor, immunoglobulins A, M, and carcinoembryonic antigen in vestibular schwannoma patients. METHODS: In our study, we performed an immunological analysis of 35 patients with vestibular schwannoma of different stages. According to the evolution of vestibular schwannoma, 20 patients did not show tumor growth, but 15 patients had a growing tumor. RESULTS: The level of vascular endothelial growth factor in the blood serum of study groups exceeded the control values by 8 times and transforming growth factor beta1 by 1.65. Increased values of immunoglobulin A and immunoglobulin M were observed in patients with intracanal, second, and third stages of tumor, compared with the control group. Carcinoembryonic antigen was found to be of increased values in patients with intracanal and third-stage vestibular schwannoma, in comparison to the control group. CONCLUSION: Growth factors such as vascular endothelial growth factor and transforming growth factor beta1 can play a significant role in the genesis of vestibular schwannoma. In vestibular schwannoma patients, their investigation is appropriate both in the process of monitoring and in the assessment of treatment effectiveness. Immunoglobulins M and A can be used as additional markers of vestibular schwannoma, especially in tumor growth. Carcinogenic embryonic antigen has high values only in the late stages of vestibular schwannoma development.