BACKGROUND: Low-grade gliomas (LGG) are the most common central nervous system (CNS) tumors in children. Peru is an index country for the Global Initiative for Childhood Cancer (GICC). As part of the Initiative, a multidisciplinary brain tumor team was formed in 2020 that includes five national reference centers: National Institute of Neoplastic Diseases, National Children’s Health Institute-San Borja, National Children’s Health Institute-Breña, Edgardo Rebagliati Martins National Hospital and Guillermo Almenara Irigoyen National Hospital. This multicenter study sought to evaluate the survival and prognostic factors of patients younger than 18 years diagnosed with LGG, an index cancer for the GICC. METHODS: A retrospective study included all patients diagnosed with LGG in the five centers between 2014 and 2018. We analyzed clinical characteristics, histology, and treatment modalities. We used the Kaplan-Meier method for survival. RESULTS: 194 patients were registered; 136 patients were included. M/F ratio was 1.2, mean age 7 years old. The most frequent location was infratentorial (42.2%), supratentorial (34.9%), optic/chiasm/sellar (11%) and brainstem (11.9%). The most frequent histological types were pilocytic astrocytoma (61%), diffuse astrocytoma (10.3%), oligodendroglioma (5.2%), and other low-grade neoplasms (23.5%). Surgery was performed in 109 patients (83.2%). Chemotherapy alone was used in 17 (12.5%), while radiotherapy in 20 (14.7%). Overall survival at 5 years was 82.9% (95% CI 73.3 - 89.4). Age younger than 3 years (p=0.002), diffuse histological type (p=0.04), and location in the brainstem (p=0.001) were factors associated with a worse prognosis. CONCLUSIONS: Within the framework of the GICC, this work is one of the first steps to understand the current context of pediatric CNS tumor care in Peru. Although the reported survival rate is about the GICC goal of 60%, further improvements in care are needed to increase survival to level closer to high-resource setting and decrease long term morbidity.

OBJECTIVE The objectives of this study were to determine the overall survival (OS) and event-free survival (EFS) rates of patients with medulloblastoma treated in a national pediatric hospital in Peru, as well as to identify demographic, clinical, imaging, postoperative, and histopathological characteristics and prognostic factors associated with OS and EFS. METHODS The authors conducted a retrospective study analyzing information from the medical records of children with a diagnosis of medulloblastoma who underwent surgical treatment at the Instituto Nacional de Salud del Niño—San Borja, a public hospital in Lima, Peru, from 2015 to 2020. Clinical-epidemiological variables, degree of disease extension, risk stratification, extent of resection, postoperative complications, status of oncological treatment received, histological subtype, and neurological sequelae were taken into account. The Kaplan-Meier method and Cox regression analysis were used to estimate OS, EFS, and prognostic factors. RESULTS Of the 57 children evaluated with complete medical records, only 22 children (38.6%) underwent complete oncological treatment. OS was 37% (95% CI 0.25–0.55) at 48 months. EFS was 44% (95% CI 0.31–0.61) at 23 months. High-risk stratification—meaning patients with ≥ 1.5 cm2 of residual postoperative tumor, those younger than 3 years, those with disseminated disease (HR 9.69, 95% CI 1.40–67.0, p = 0.02), and those who underwent subtotal resection (HR 3.78, 95% CI 1.09–13.2, p = 0.04)—was negatively associated with OS. Failure to receive complete oncological treatment was negatively associated with OS (HR 20.0, 95% CI 4.84–82.6, p < 0.001) and EFS (HR 7.82, 95% CI 2.47–24.7, p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS OS and EFS of patients with medulloblastoma in the author’s milieu are below those reported in developed countries. Incomplete treatment and treatment abandonment in the authors’ cohort were also high compared with high-income country statistics. Failure to complete oncological treatment was the most important factor associated with poor prognosis, both in terms of OS and EFS. High-risk patients and subtotal resection were negatively associated with OS. Interventions are needed to promote the completion of adjuvant oncological therapy for medulloblastoma in the disadvantaged Peruvian population.

BACKGROUND: Medulloblastoma is the most common malignant brain tumor in children. While survival has improved in high-income countries (HIC), the outcomes for patients in low-middle-income countries (LMIC) are unclear. Therefore, we sought to determine the survival of children with Medulloblastoma at the Instituto Nacional de Enfermedades Neoplasicas (INEN) between 1997 and 2013 in Peru. METHODS: Between 1997-2013, data from 103 children older than three years with Medulloblastoma were analyzed. Fourteen patients were excluded. The patients were split into two distinct cohorts, 1997 – 2008 and 2009 – 2013, corresponding with chemotherapy regimen changes. Event-free (EFS) and overall survival (OS) were calculated using the Kaplan-Meier method, while prognostic factors were determined by univariate analysis (log-rank test). RESULTS: Eighty-nine patients were included; median age was 8.1 years (range: 3-13.9 years). The five-year OS was 62% (95% CI: 53 – 74%) while EFS was 57% (95% CI: 48 – 69%). The variables adversely affecting survival were anaplastic histology [compared to desmoplastic; OS: HR=3.4, p=0.03], metastasis [OS: HR=3.5, p=0.01; EFS: HR=4.3, p=0.004], delay in radiation therapy of 31-60 days [compared to ≤30 days; EFS: HR=2.1, p=0.04], and treatment 2009 – 2013 cohort[OS: HR=2.2, p=0.02; EFS: HR=2.0; p=0.03]. CONCLUSIONS: Outcomes for Medulloblastoma at INEN were low compared with HIC. Anaplastic sub-type, metastasis at diagnosis, delay in radiation therapy, and treatment in the period 2009 - 2013 negatively affected the outcomes in our study. Multidisciplinary teamwork, timely delivery of treatment and partnerships with loco-regional groups and colleagues in HIC is likely beneficial.