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. | ||||||||
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Impact of radiotherapy for pediatric CNS atypical teratoid/rhabdoid tumor (single institute experience).Chen YW, Wong TT, Ho DM, Huang PI, Chang KP, Shiau CY, Yen SH Cancer Center, Neurological Institute, Taipei, Taiwan. PURPOSE: To assess outcomes and prognostic factors in radiotherapy of pediatric central nervous system atypical teratoid/rhabdoid tumor (AT/RT). METHODS AND MATERIALS: Seventeen patients with central nervous system AT/RT were retrospectively reviewed after curative radiotherapy as primary or adjuvant therapy between January 1990 and December 2003. Overall and failure-free survival rates were calculated using the Kaplan-Meier method. The log-rank method was used to compare the effects of dosage (>50 Gy or < or =50 Gy) and treatment duration (>45 days or < or =45 days). Multivariate analysis was performed for prognostic factors. RESULTS: Median overall survival and failure-free survival were 17 and 11 months, respectively. The 3 longest-surviving patients were older, underwent gross tumor removal, and completed both craniospinal and focal boost irradiation. Multivariate analysis revealed a significant relationship between the following: overall survival and performance status (p = 0.019), failure-free survival and total irradiation dose (p = 0.037), time interval between surgery and radiotherapy initiation (p = 0.031), and time interval between surgery and radiotherapy end point (p = 0.047). CONCLUSION: Radiotherapy is crucial in the treatment of AT/RT. We recommend initiating radiotherapy immediately postoperatively and before systemic chemotherapy in pediatric patients > or =3 years of age. Published 28 February 2006 in Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys, 64(4): 1038-43.
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