title: Infants with medulloblastoma: a single institution review of survival.
abstract: Although the prognoses of children with medulloblastoma have improved dramatically over the last several decades, the reported survival for very young children with this tumor remains poor. We undertook a retrospective review of patients less than 36 months of age at the time of the diagnosis of a medulloblastoma who were treated at our institution during a 36-year period. Of 28 such patients, 10 patients are presently surviving without disease at a median of 150 months from diagnosis. The presence of a metastatic tumor at the time of diagnosis was identified as a significant indicator of a poor prognosis, and all completely staged patients without metastasis are surviving without a recurrence of disease. This report suggests that the survival of very young children with a medulloblastoma may not be as poor as has been previously reported, particularly if a disseminated tumor is not present at the time of diagnosis.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Children's Hospital and Medical Center, University of Washington, Seattle.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Geyer
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Levy
authors.forename: M S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Berger
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Milstein
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Griffin
authors.forename: W A
authors.initials: WA
authors.lastname: Bleyer
mesh_terms: D002528:Cerebellar Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000401:mortality* / Q000628:therapy; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D008527:Medulloblastoma / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000401:mortality* / Q000628:therapy; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D015996:Survival Rate