title: Contemporary management of pineoblastoma.
abstract: Pineoblastomas (PBs) represent the most aggressive of the pineal parenchymal tumors. Routine treatment consists of operative management of obstructive hydrocephalus and cerebrospinal fluid studies followed by maximal resection and adjuvant chemotherapy/radiotherapy, resulting in a median survival of 20 months. Important prognostic factors for survival of patients with PB include extent of resection, age at presentation, disseminated disease, and craniospinal radiotherapy. Novel strategies being evaluated for the treatment of PB include high-dose chemotherapy with autologous stem cell therapy, stereotactic radiosurgery, and histone deacetylase inhibitors.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurological Surgery, University of California, San Francisco, 505 Parnassus Avenue, M779, Box 0112, San Francisco, CA 94117, USA.
authors.forename: Matthew C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Tate
authors.forename: Martin J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Rutkowski
authors.forename: Andrew T
authors.initials: AT
authors.lastname: Parsa
mesh_terms: D059248:Chemoradiotherapy / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D019635:Neurosurgical Procedures / Q000379:methods*; D010871:Pinealoma / Q000401:mortality / Q000601:surgery / Q000628:therapy; D016634:Radiosurgery / Q000379:methods; D033581:Stem Cell Transplantation / Q000379:methods; D015996:Survival Rate