[Combination treatment for craniopharyngiomas with stereotactic intracavitary irradiation and gamma knife surgery].
OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the effectiveness of the combination treatment for craniopharygiomas with stereotactic intracavitary irradiation and gamma knife surgery.


METHODS
Combination treatment of stereotactic instillation of radioisotopes and gamma knife surgery was performed in 46 patients with craniopharyngioma between October 1996 and June 1999. There were 24 men and 22 women, with age ranging from 3 to 60 years (average 38.6 years). There were 13 solid tumors and 33 mixed solid and cystic tumors. Twenty-eight patients had undergone prior caraniotomies with total or partial resection of tumors, with or without followed external beam radiation therapy. Gamma knife surgery was done in solid tumors and the combination treatment was done in mixed tumors: the cyst being treated with stereotactic intracavitary radiation and the solid part with Gamma knife.


RESULTS
Thirty-eight patients (10 solid and 28 mixed) were followed up from 6 months to two years (averaged 16 months). The tumor control rate (disappeared, decreased and unchanged) was 90% in solid tumor, 85.7% in mixed tumors, and 92.1% in solid segment and the total control rate was 89.5%.


CONCLUSIONS
The combination treatment is a simple, safe and effective method for craniopharyngiomas, especially for the recurrent mixed solid and cystic tumors. Gamma knife surgery plays an important role in the treatment of solid component of the craniopharyngiomas.
Yu
X
X
Neurosurgical Department of Navy General Hospital, Beijing 100037, China.
Zhou
D
D
Liu
Z
Z
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003131:Combined Modality Therapy; D003397:Craniopharyngioma / Q000532:radiotherapy* / Q000601:surgery*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010911:Pituitary Neoplasms / Q000532:radiotherapy* / Q000601:surgery*; D016896:Treatment Outcome