title: Fractionated radiation therapy for vestibular schwannoma.
abstract: Vestibular schwannomas are the most common tumors of the cerebellopontine angle. Multiple management paradigms exist for patients with these benign tumors, including observation, microsurgery, stereotactic radiosurgery, and fractionated radiation therapy, or some combination of these. While the proper course of management is controversial, the goals of therapy are to achieve excellent local tumor control and optimize functional outcomes with as little treatment-related morbidity as possible. Decision-making is tailored to patient-specific factors such as tumor size, clinical presentation, patient age, and goals of hearing preservation. We review the literature in order to summarize the application of fractionated radiation therapy to this tumor entity, where it is used as a primary treatment or, more commonly, as an adjunct therapy. We also provide an overview of the use of fractionated radiation therapy for the preservation of hearing and facial function, and dosing and other technical considerations, in light of the indolent natural history of vestibular schwannomas. We also discuss potential risks associated with this treatment modality, including its effects on temporal bone structures and cranial nerves among other possible complications. Lastly, we outline future directions in this rapidly evolving segment of vestibular schwannoma therapy, which has benefited from the advent of intensity-modulated radiation therapy coupled with stereotactic localization.
authors: Department of Neurological Surgery, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA.
authors: Brian J
authors: BJ
authors: Jian
authors: Department of Neurological Surgery, Northwestern University, 676 N. St. Clair Street, Suite 2210, Chicago, IL 60611-2911, USA.
authors: Gurvinder
authors: G
authors: Kaur
authors: Department of Neurological Surgery, Northwestern University, 676 N. St. Clair Street, Suite 2210, Chicago, IL 60611-2911, USA.
authors: Eli T
authors: ET
authors: Sayegh
authors: Department of Neurological Surgery, Northwestern University, 676 N. St. Clair Street, Suite 2210, Chicago, IL 60611-2911, USA.
authors: Orin
authors: O
authors: Bloch
authors: Department of Neurological Surgery, Northwestern University, 676 N. St. Clair Street, Suite 2210, Chicago, IL 60611-2911, USA. Electronic address: aparsa@nmff.org.
authors: Andrew T
authors: AT
authors: Parsa
authors: Department of Radiation Oncology, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA.
authors: Igor J
authors: IJ
authors: Barani
mesh_terms: D006801:Humans; D009464:Neuroma, Acoustic / Q000601:surgery*; D016634:Radiosurgery / Q000379:methods*
keywords: Facial preservation; Fractionated radiotherapy; Hearing preservation; Risks; Vestibular schwannoma