Meningiomata may appear at any age, but most commonly are noticed in men and women age 50 or older, with meningiomata becoming more likely with age. They have been observed in all cultures, Western and Eastern, in roughly the same statistical frequency as other possible brain tumors. History
The neoplasms currently referred to as meningiomata were referred to with a wide range of names in older medical literature, depending on the source. Various descriptors included "fungoid tumors", "fungus of the dura mater", "epithelioma", "psammoma", "dural sarcoma", "dural endothelioma", "fibrosarcoma", "angioendothelioma", "arachnoidal fibroboastoma", "endotheliosis of the meninges", "meningeal fibroblastoma", "meningoblastoma", "mestothelioma of the meninges", "sarcoma of the dura", and others.The modern term of "meningioma" was used first by Harvey Cushing (1869–1939) in 1922, to describe a set of tumors that occur throughout the neuraxis (brain and spinal cord), but have various commonalities. Charles Oberling then separated these into subtypes based on cell structure and, over the years, several other researchers have defined dozens of different subtypes as well. In 1979, the World Health Organization (WHO) classified seven subtypes, upgraded in 2000 to a classification system with nine low-grade variants (grade I tumors) and three variants each of grade II and grade III meningiomata. The most common subtypes are Meningotheliomatous (63%), transitional or mixed-type (19%), fibrous (13%), and psammomatous (2%).The earliest evidence of a probable meningioma is from a skull approximately 365,000 years old, which was found in Germany.
Numerous retrospective studies, however, have suggested strongly that the addition of postoperative radiation to incomplete resections improves both progression-free survival (i.e. prevents tumor recurrence) and improves overall survival.In the case of a  grade III meningioma, the current standard of care involves postoperative radiation treatment regardless of the degree of surgical resection. This is due to the proportionally higher rate of local recurrence for these higher-grade tumors. Grade II tumors may behave variably and there is no standard of whether to give radiotherapy following a gross total resection. Subtotally resected grade II tumors should be radiated. Chemotherapy
Likely, current chemotherapies are not effective. Antiprogestin agents have been used, but with variable results. A 2007 study of whether hydroxyurea has the capacity to shrink unresectable or recurrent meningiomata is being further evaluated. Epidemiology
Many individuals have meningiomata, but remain asymptomatic, so the meningiomata are discovered during an autopsy. One to two percent of all autopsies reveal meningiomata that were unknown to the individuals during their lifetime, since there were never any symptoms. In the 1970s, tumors causing symptoms were discovered in 2 out of 100,000 people, while tumors discovered without causing symptoms occurred in 5.7 out of 100,000, for a total incidence of 7.7/100,000. With the advent of modern sophisticated imaging systems such as CT scans, the discovery of asymptomatic meningiomata has tripled.Meningiomata are more likely to appear in women than men, though when they appear in men, they are more likely to be malignant.