Abstract
Our institutional experience with pediatric spinal cord tumors includes 25 patients with the diagnosis of ependymoma (EP; n = 4), myxopapillary ependymoma (MPEP; n = 4), juvenile pilocytic astrocytoma (JPA; n = 5), nonpilocytic astrocytoma (WHO grade I or II, n = 6), and other nonastrocytic spinal cord tumors (n = 6) treated during the period 1974-1999. Nineteen patients required radiation therapy (RT). The median progression-free survival following RT was 65 months (range 1-206 months). Seven patients recurred at an average of 22 months. The EP patients recurred at an average of 8.5 months, while the patients with low-grade astrocytoma recurred at an average of 42 months. Including the 6 nonsurviving patients, the median overall survival was 96 months. Two EP patients died with a progression-free survival of 9 months. One patient with MPEP died of other causes at 7 months. The treatment of pediatric spinal cord tumors should be individualized based on the histologic type. Radical surgery is indicated for nonmyxopapillary EP and low-grade astrocytic tumors. The need for adjuvan-therapy most often depends on the extent of resection as well as the tumor type. Patients with disseminated EP MPEP, JPA and nonpilocytic astrocytoma may achieve long-term progression-free survival with craniospinal irradiation. Copyright (C) 2000 S. Karger AG, Basel.
Original language | English (US) |
---|---|
Pages (from-to) | 30-36 |
Number of pages | 7 |
Journal | Pediatric Neurosurgery |
Volume | 32 |
Issue number | 1 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Jan 2000 |
Keywords
- Astrocytoma
- Central nervous system neoplasms
- Craniospinal irradiation
- Ependymoma
- Radiotherapy
- Spinal cord tumors
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Pediatrics, Perinatology, and Child Health
- Surgery
- Clinical Neurology