Autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation for high-risk brain tumors in children.
Autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplant (AHSCT) has been advocated as a form of salvage therapy for children with high-risk or relapsed brain tumors but only limited data are available currently. We report the outcomes of pediatric brain tumors treated with AHSCT in a quaternary referral center in Hong Kong over 10 years (June 1996-May 2006). Thirteen patients with medulloblastoma (n = 9), cerebral primitive neuroectodermal tumor (n = 1), ependymoma (n = 1), germ cell tumor (n = 1) and cerebellar rhabdoid (n = 1) were transplanted because of tumor residual (n = 1) or recurrence (n = 12). Uniform upfront treatment protocols were adopted according to specific tumor types. Prior to AHSCT, 8 patients (61.5%) achieved complete remission and 5 (38.5%) were in partial remission. Conditioning employed thiotepa 300 mg/m2, etoposide 250 mg/m2)and carboplatin 500 mg/m2 daily for 3 days. Toxicity included mucositis and neutropenic fever in all patients, grade 4 hepatic toxicity in 4 patients (including hepatic veno-occlusive disease in 2 patients) and grade 4 renal toxicity in 1 patient. The 5-year event-free survival was 53.9%. Five patients died of disease recurrence or progression 8-21 months after transplant with a median disease-free period of 8 months post-transplant. One died of transplant-related complications in the early post-transplant period. Seven survived for a median of 5.4 years (maximum follow-up of 9.8 years), with six having Lansky-Karnofsky performance score above 80. All survivors had complete remission before transplant though 2 had leptomeningeal spread. We conclude that AHSCT can achieve long-term survival in children with recurrent brain tumor. However, those with macroscopic residual tumor before transplant cannot be salvaged.
Cheuk
Daniel Ka Leung
DK
Department of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, Queen Mary Hospital, The University of Hong Kong, 121 Pokfulam Road, Hong Kong SAR, China. cheukkld@hkucc.hku.hk
Lee
Tsz Leung
TL
Chiang
Alan Kwok Shing
AK
Ha
Shau Yin
SY
Chan
Godfrey Chi Fung
GC
D000293:Adolescent; D001932:Brain Neoplasms / Q000145:classification / Q000401:mortality / Q000601:surgery*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D018380:Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D016019:Survival Analysis; D014182:Transplantation, Autologous / Q000379:methods*; D016896:Treatment Outcome