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Title: Radiation Is an Important Component of Multimodality Therapy for Pediatric Non-Pineal Supratentorial Primitive Neuroectodermal Tumors

Journal Article · · International Journal of Radiation Oncology, Biology and Physics
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  1. Department of Radiation Oncology, University of California-San Francisco, San Francisco, CA (United States)
  2. Department of Pediatrics, University of California-San Francisco, San Francisco, CA (United States)
  3. Department of Neurological Surgery and Brain Tumor Research Center, University of California-San Francisco, San Francisco, CA (United States)

Purpose: To review a historical cohort of pediatric patients with supratentorial primitive neuroectodermal tumors (sPNET), to clarify the role of radiation in the treatment of these tumors. Patients and Methods: Fifteen children aged <18 years with non-pineal sPNETs diagnosed between 1992 and 2006 were identified. Initial therapy consisted of surgical resection and chemotherapy in all patients and up-front radiotherapy (RT) in 5 patients. Five patients had RT at the time of progression, and 5 received no RT whatever. Kaplan-Meier estimates of overall survival were then calculated. Results: The median follow-up from diagnosis for all patients was 31 months (range, 0.5-165 months) and for surviving patients was 49 months (range, 10-165). Of the 5 patients who received up-front RT, all were alive without evidence of disease at a median follow-up of 50 months (range, 25-165 months). Only 5 of the 10 patients who did not receive up-front RT were alive at last follow-up. There was a statistically significant difference in overall survival between the patient group that received up-front RT and the group that did not (p = 0.048). In addition, we found a trend toward a statistically significant improvement in overall survival for those patients who received gross total resections (p = 0.10). Conclusions: Up-front RT and gross total resection may confer a survival benefit in patients with sPNET. Local failure was the dominant pattern of recurrence. Efforts should be made to determine patients most likely to have local failure exclusively or as a first recurrence, in order to delay or eliminate craniospinal irradiation.

OSTI ID:
21172488
Journal Information:
International Journal of Radiation Oncology, Biology and Physics, Vol. 72, Issue 5; Other Information: DOI: 10.1016/j.ijrobp.2008.03.033; PII: S0360-3016(08)00511-7; Copyright (c) 2008 Elsevier Science B.V., Amsterdam, The Netherlands, All rights reserved; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0360-3016
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English