title: Low grade astrocytoma in children under the age of three years: a report from the Canadian pediatric brain tumour consortium.
abstract: In children under the age of 3 years, the most common solid tumors are brain tumors. Low grade astrocytomas represent 30-40 % of brain tumours in this age group. This study reviewed the incidence, characteristics, therapy, and outcome of children less than 36 months of age diagnosed with a low grade astrocytoma from 1990 to 2005 in Canada. A data bank was established using data collected from Canadian pediatric oncology centers on children less than age 3 diagnosed with brain tumors between 1990 and 2005. Cases of low grade astrocytoma were extracted from this data bank and their characteristics summarized. From the 579 cases in the data bank, 153 cases of low grade astrocytoma (26 %) were identified. The mean duration of symptoms prior to presentation was 13 weeks, and 53 % of patients underwent a greater than 90 % resection of their tumor, while 30 % underwent 10-90 % resection. Seventy-one percent of patients received no further therapy after surgery and of the 45 who received therapy following surgery, 43 received chemotherapy, and 5 received radiation therapy. Sixty-eight patients had recurrence or progression of their tumor. Eighty-seven percent of patients were alive at the time of the survey with a 2 year survival rate of 95.3 ± 1.8 %, 5 year survival rate of 93.1 ± 2.1 % and 10 year survival rate of 89.1 ± 2.8 %. The 5 year survival rate for Canadian children less than 36 months of age with a low grade astrocytoma was 93.0 ± 2.8 % which is similar to that for older children with this tumor.
authors.affiliation: Division of Oncology, Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario, 401 Smyth Road, Ottawa, ON, K1H 8L1, Canada, djohnston@cheo.on.ca.
authors.forename: Donna L
authors.initials: DL
authors.lastname: Johnston
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Keene
authors.forename: Ute
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Bartels
authors.forename: Anne-Sophie
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Carret
authors.forename: Bruce
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Crooks
authors.forename: David D
authors.initials: DD
authors.lastname: Eisenstat
authors.forename: Chris
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Fryer
authors.forename: Lucie
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Lafay-Cousin
authors.forename: Valerie
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Larouche
authors.forename: Albert
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Moghrabi
authors.forename: Beverly
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Wilson
authors.forename: Shayna
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Zelcer
authors.forename: Mariana
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Silva
authors.forename: Eric
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Bouffet
mesh_terms: D001254:Astrocytoma / Q000453:epidemiology*; D001932:Brain Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology*; D002170:Canada / Q000453:epidemiology; D002675:Child, Preschool; D018450:Disease Progression; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D053208:Kaplan-Meier Estimate; D008297:Male