Successful Treatment of a Skull Base Malignant Rhabdoid Tumor with Surgery, Chemotherapy and Gamma Knife-Based Stereotactic Radiosurgery in a Young Child

Witt, Thomas C.; Lo, Simon S.; Timmerman, Robert

doi:10.1159/000107372

Cited by 4 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 18 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…External beam radiation therapy alone results in poor local control and overall survival due to factors such as large tumor volume, limitations of radiation dose, and the intrinsic "radio-resistance" of certain tumors [ 27 , 28 ]. Single-session radiosurgery has been employed in the treatment of chordomas and malignant tumors at the cranial base [ 3 , 29 - 34 ]. However, given the close proximity of these lesions to critical neurovascular structures, methods to minimize radiation-induced toxicities should be considered.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Treatment of malignant tumors of the skull base with multi-session radiosurgery

et al. 2009

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Objective: Malignant tumors that involve the skull base pose significant challenges to the clinician because of the proximity of critical neurovascular structures and limited effectiveness of surgical resection without major morbidity. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the efficacy and safety of multi-session radiosurgery in patients with malignancies of the skull base.Methods: Clinical and radiographic data for 37 patients treated with image-guided, multi-session radiosurgery between January 2002 and December 2007 were reviewed retrospectively. Lesions were classified according to involvement with the bones of the base of the skull and proximity to the cranial nerves.Results: Our cohort consisted of 37 patients. Six patients with follow-up periods less than four weeks were eliminated from statistical consideration, thus leaving the data from 31 patients to be analyzed. The median follow-up was 37 weeks. Ten patients (32%) were alive at the end of the follow-up period. At last follow-up, or the time of death from systemic disease, tumor regression or stable local disease was observed in 23 lesions, representing an overall tumor control rate of 74%. For the remainder of lesions, the median time to progression was 24 weeks. The median progression-free survival was 230 weeks. The median overall survival was 39 weeks. In the absence of tumor progression, there were no cranial nerve, brainstem or vascular complications referable specifically to CyberKnife ® radiosurgery. Conclusion:Our experience suggests that multi-session radiosurgery for the treatment of malignant skull base tumors is comparable to other radiosurgical techniques in progression-free survival, local tumor control, and adverse effects.

show abstract