title: Stereotactic radiation in primary brain tumors in children and adolescents.
abstract: To evaluate treatment outcome and morbidity of stereotactic external-beam irradiation (SEBI) in pediatric patients, we reviewed 14 children treated with SEBI, using a 10-MV isocentric linear accelerator at McGill University between 1988 and 1994. The median follow-up was 46 months (range 6-82 months). The median age was 14 years. There were 8 low-grade astrocytomas, 3 neuromas and 4 other histologies. Twelve patients received fractionated treatments. The median collimator diameter was 2.5 cm (range 1-5 cm). The median biological effective dose delivered to the entire tumor volume was 57 Gy for astrocytomas and 43 Gy for the other histologies. The overall actuarial survival rate and disease-free survival rate at 5 years were 83 and 62%, respectively. For the patients with low-grade astrocytomas, the 5-year survival and disease-free survival rates were 100 and 60%, respectively. Four children had recurrence at a median of 37 months. Four patients developed treatment-related complications: 1 had edema alone, 2 had necrosis and 1 had edema associated with necrosis. Neither the physical nor radiobiological parameters were predictive of the treatment outcome or the treatment complications. Stereotactic irradiation is a valid option for progressive nonresectable tumors in children.
authors.affiliation: McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada. vbenk@is.mgh.mcgill.ca
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Benk
authors.forename: B G
authors.initials: BG
authors.lastname: Clark
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Souhami
authors.forename: O
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Algan
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Bahary
authors.forename: E B
authors.initials: EB
authors.lastname: Podgorsak
authors.forename: C R
authors.initials: CR
authors.lastname: Freeman
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001932:Brain Neoplasms / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D002648:Child; D018572:Disease-Free Survival; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009364:Neoplasm Recurrence, Local; D016634:Radiosurgery / Q000379:methods*; D011879:Radiotherapy Dosage; D012307:Risk Factors; D016019:Survival Analysis