Adult brainstem gliomas.
OBJECTIVE
To evaluate prognostic factors and survival of adult patients with brainstem gliomas.


BACKGROUND
Brainstem glioma is a disease found primarily in children, with a median survival of only 9 to 12 months. However, the prognosis and survival of adults with this disease has not been determined with precision.


METHODS
We conducted a retrospective analysis of patients older than 16 years at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center with histologically proved or presumed brainstem glioma diagnosed between 1989 and 1997. We assessed the effect of gender, age at diagnosis, cranial nerve involvement, duration of symptoms, exophytic component, MRI enhancement, site of disease, treatment, and Karnofsky performance status on survival.


RESULTS
Twenty-three patients were identified, but complete information was available in only 19 (12 males and 7 females). Patients ranged in age from 17 to 70 years (median, 40 years). Twelve patients were treated with radiotherapy at diagnosis and seven were observed, three of whom received subsequent radiotherapy. Median survival is 54 months (range, 3 to 98 months) and the 5-year survival is 45%. There was a trend for patients with a higher performance status at diagnosis to have longer survival, but this did not reach statistical significance. Other factors did not affect survival.


CONCLUSIONS
Adults with brainstem gliomas may survive significantly longer than children, suggesting the disease may be less aggressive in adults. Furthermore, some patients with a long duration of symptoms or tectal or cervicomedullary tumors may be managed initially with observation alone.
Department of Neurology, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY 10021, USA.
J C
JC
Landolfi
H T
HT
Thaler
L M
LM
DeAngelis
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001932:Brain Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000401:mortality; D001933:Brain Stem; D005260:Female; D005910:Glioma / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000401:mortality; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016019:Survival Analysis