title: Cranial irradiation of children with soft-tissue sarcomas arising in parameningeal sites.
abstract: Soft-tissue sarcomas arising in parameningeal sites are characterized by the potential of a direct meningeal invasion. In order to improve survival rates, we started a treatment program which included whole cranial irradiation with a dose of 24-30 Gy and primary tumor irradiation with 55-65 Gy, and polychemotherapy with vincristine, actinomycin D and cyclophosphamide, and, in some cases, adriamycin. Results in a series of 9 children treated by this program were compared with a historical group of 12 children without cranial irradiation. In the group with extended irradiation to brain, survival was 40%, stabilized at the 13th month of treatment, and 38.1%, respectively, if orbitary tumors were excluded. In the historical group these values were only 20.83% and 15.67%, respectively. The differences were statistically significant.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Oncology and Radiobiology, Havana, Cuba.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Alert
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Longchong
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Valdés
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Menéndez
mesh_terms: D000971:Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003131:Combined Modality Therapy; D003520:Cyclophosphamide / Q000008:administration & dosage; D003609:Dactinomycin / Q000008:administration & dosage; D004317:Doxorubicin / Q000008:administration & dosage; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008577:Meningeal Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000532:radiotherapy*; D012509:Sarcoma / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000532:radiotherapy*; D012983:Soft Tissue Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000532:radiotherapy*; D014750:Vincristine / Q000008:administration & dosage
chemical_list: D003609:Dactinomycin; D014750:Vincristine; D004317:Doxorubicin; D003520:Cyclophosphamide