Primitive neuroectodermal tumor after radiation therapy for craniopharyngioma

2011 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
pp. E3 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Chan ◽  
Sebastian R. Herrera ◽  
Sergey Neckrysh ◽  
Adam Wallace ◽  
Tibor Valyi-Nagy ◽  
...  

The authors report a case of primitive neuroectodermal tumor induced by radiation therapy of craniopharyngioma. This African-American male patient originally presented with craniopharyngioma, for which he underwent resection and whole-brain radiation therapy. Eight years later, at the age of 20 years, he returned with a left facial droop and left hemiparesis. A right basal ganglia mass was identified and resected. Histopathological examination identified the lesion as primitive neuroectodermal tumor. Although radiation therapy has shown to be beneficial in decreasing the recurrence rate in subtotally resected craniopharyngioma, the risks of radiation treatment should be clearly communicated to the patients, their families, and neurosurgeons before starting such treatment. This report expands the spectrum of reported radiation-induced neoplasms in the CNS.

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (5) ◽  
pp. 97 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew Jonathan Huang ◽  
David Kornguth ◽  
Steven Kornguth

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) resulting from forceful impacts on the torso and head has been of major interest because of the prevalence of such injuries in military personnel, contact sports and the elderly. Cognitive and behavioral changes associated with TBI are also seen following whole brain radiation treatment for cancer and chemotherapy for disseminated tumors. The biological mechanisms involved in the initiation of TBI from impact, radiation, and chemotherapy to loss of cognitive function have several shared characteristics including increases in blood brain barrier permeability, blood vessel density, increases in inflammatory and autoimmune responses, alterations in NMDA and glutamate receptor levels and release of proteins normally sequestered in the brain into the blood and spinal fluid. The development of therapeutic agents that mitigate the loss of cognition and development of behavioral disorders in patients experiencing radiation-induced injury may provide benefit to those with TBI when similar processes are involved on a cellular or molecular level. Increased collaborative efforts between the radiation oncology and the neurology and psychiatry communities may be of major benefit for the management of brain injury from varied environmental insults.


2000 ◽  
Vol 93 (supplement_3) ◽  
pp. 32-36 ◽  
Author(s):  
Toru Serizawa ◽  
Toshihiko Iuchi ◽  
Junichi Ono ◽  
Naokatsu Saeki ◽  
Katsunobu Osato ◽  
...  

Object. The purpose of this retrospective study was to compare the effectiveness of gamma knife radiosurgery (GKS) for multiple cerebral metastases with that of whole-brain radiation therapy (WBRT). Methods. Ninety-six consecutive patients with cerebral metastases from nonsmall cell lung cancer were treated between 1990 and 1999. The entry criteria were the presence of between one and 10 multiple brain lesions at initial diagnosis, no surgically inaccessible tumors with more than a 30-mm diameter, no carcinomatous meningitis, and more than 2 months of life expectancy. The patients were divided into two groups: the GKS group (62 patients) and the WBRT group (34 patients). In the GKS group, large lesions (> 30 mm) were removed surgically and all other small lesions (≤ 30 mm) were treated by GKS. New distant lesions were treated by repeated GKS without prophylactic WBRT. In the WBRT group, the patients were treated by the traditional combined therapy of WBRT and surgery. In both groups, chemotherapy was administered according to the primary physician's protocol. The two groups did not differ in terms of age, sex, initial Karnofsky Performance Scale (KPS) score, type, lesion number, and size of lesion, systemic control, and chemotherapy. Neurological survival and qualitative survival of the GKS group were longer than those of the WBRT group. In multivariate analysis, significant poor prognostic factors were systemically uncontrolled patients, WBRT group, and poor initial KPS score. Conclusions. Gamma knife radiosurgery without prophylactic WBRT could be a primary choice of treatment for patients with as many as 10 cerebral metastases from nonsmall cell cancer.


2011 ◽  
Vol 115 (1) ◽  
pp. 37-48 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen Rush ◽  
Robert E. Elliott ◽  
Amr Morsi ◽  
Nisha Mehta ◽  
Jeri Spriet ◽  
...  

Object In this paper, the authors' goal was to analyze the incidence, timing, and treatment of new metastases following initial treatment with 20-Gy Gamma Knife surgery (GKS) alone in patients with limited brain metastases without whole-brain radiation therapy (WBRT). Methods A retrospective analysis of 114 consecutive adults (75 women and 34 men; median age 61 years) with KPS scores of 60 or higher who received GKS for 1–3 brain metastases ≤ 2 cm was performed (median lesion volume 0.35 cm3). Five patients lacking follow-up data were excluded from analysis. After treatment, patients underwent MR imaging at 6 weeks and every 3 months thereafter. New metastases were preferentially treated with additional GKS. Indications for WBRT included development of numerous metastases, leptomeningeal disease, or diffuse surgical-site recurrence. Results The median overall survival from GKS was 13.8 months. Excluding the 3 patients who died before follow-up imaging, 12 patients (11.3%) experienced local failure at a median of 7.4 months. Fifty-three patients (50%) developed new metastases at a median of 5 months. Six (7%) of 86 instances of new lesions were symptomatic. Most patients (67%) with distant failures were successfully treated using salvage GKS alone. Whole-brain radiotherapy was indicated in 20 patients (18.3%). Thirteen patients (11.9%) died of neurological disease. Conclusions For patients with limited brain metastases and functional independence, 20-Gy GKS provides excellent disease control and high-functioning survival with minimal morbidity. New metastases developed in almost 50% of patients, but additional GKS was extremely effective in controlling disease. Using our algorithm, fewer than 20% of patients required WBRT, and only 12% died of progressive intracranial disease.


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