Brain Cancer Research Today is a free monthly online journal that collates and summarizes the latest research about Brain Cancer, including details on symptoms, benign and malignant tumors, gliomas, treatment.

Radiotherapy of localised intracranial germinoma: time to sever historical ties?

Rogers SJ, Mosleh-Shirazi MA, Saran FH

Department of Neuro-Oncology and Paediatric Oncology, Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust, Downs Road, Sutton, Surrey SM2 5PT, UK.

The optimum management of localised intracranial germinoma remains controversial. Cure rates for this rare CNS tumour, which arises mainly in adolescents, exceed 90% at 10 years, and limitation of treatment-related late morbidity is therefore essential. Craniospinal radiotherapy plus boost is perceived to be the gold-standard treatment, but there have been suggestions that reduced-volume radiotherapy could be adequate for cure. We reviewed publications since 1988 to compare patterns of disease relapse and cure rates after craniospinal radiotherapy, reduced-volume irradiation alone (i.e., whole-brain or whole-ventricular irradiation followed by a boost), and focal or localised irradiation alone. The recurrence rate after whole-brain or whole-ventricular radiotherapy plus boost was 7.6% compared with 3.8% after craniospinal radiotherapy, with no predilection for isolated spinal relapses (2.9% vs 1.2%). We challenge the consensus that craniospinal radiotherapy is the best treatment for localised germinomas and conclude that reduced-volume radiotherapy plus boost should replace craniospinal radiotherapy when a radiotherapy-only approach is used.

Published 4 July 2005 in Lancet Oncol, 6(7): 509-19.
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