Is the Knowledge Pertaining to Adult Glioblastomas Enough for Pediatric Cases? Prognostic Factors in Childhood.
OBJECTIVE
Pediatric glioblastoma (GBM) is still a topic obscurity. The aim of this study was to explore clinical, radiological and pathological features, and prognostic factors affecting the outcomes.


METHODS
We retrospectively reviewed our database for prognostic factors for 42 consecutive pediatric patients with histologically proven GBM treated in our hospital.


RESULTS
The study reached at 20 boys and 22 girls, with a mean age of 10.2 years. Almost all patients (97.6%) had supratentorial tumors; lobar/hemispheric (68.3%), thalamic (26.8%) and suprasellar-hypothalamic region (4.8%). Total of 11/42 children had seeding metastases (mean 11.5 months) either preoperatively or postoperatively. Gross total resection (GTR) was achieved in 13 patients (30.9%) in the first surgery. Perioperative mortality and morbidity rates were 4.7% and 19%, respectively. Patients were followed for an average of 18.1 months. The median progression-free and overall survivals were 7.0 (95% CI: 5.9-8.0) and 11.0 (95% CI: 8.9-13.1) months, respectively. 1-year, 2-year and 5-year progression-free survival and overall survivals were 30.9% vs. 50.0%, 11.9% vs. 19.0%, 4.8% vs. 9.5%; respectively.


CONCLUSIONS
Gross total resection should be safely attempted in pediatric GBM. In addition, a thorough and frequent radiological evaluation of the entire neuraxis for seeding metastases is recommended both at diagnosis and follow-ups.
Hacettepe University, School of Medicine, Department of Neurosurgery, Ankara, Turkey.
Burcak
B
Bilginer
Sahin
S
Hanalioglu
Cezmi Cagri
CC
Turk
Firat
F
Narin
Kader Karli
KK
Oguz
Figen
F
Soylemezoglu
Nejat
N
Akalan
D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D018572:Disease-Free Survival; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D005909:Glioblastoma / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care; D011379:Prognosis; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D015173:Supratentorial Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery