scholarly journals Skull base chordomas: overview of disease, management options, and outcome

2001 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 1-9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Giuseppe Lanzino ◽  
Aaron S. Dumont ◽  
M. Beatriz S. Lopes ◽  
Edward R. Laws

Cranial base chordomas are locally invasive tumors that, from a midline, clival location, extend in different directions and display various patterns of skull base invasion. Although histologically benign, their invasive nature makes true “oncological” resection virtually impossible to achieve in most cases, despite modern skull base surgical techniques. Moreover, because of the tumor's location and proximity to critical neural and vascular structures, surgery-related morbidity can be significant when an aggressive resection is undertaken. Cytoreductive surgery assumes a critical role in the management of these lesions. The choice of surgical approach and the extent of resection are dependent on several factors: location and extension of the tumor, the surgeon's philosophy and familiarity with a specific approach, and the patient's preexisting clinical status. Proton-beam radiotherapy seems to be effective as an adjunct to surgery in achieving local tumor control. The timing of radiation therapy, however, remains controversial. Gamma knife surgery has been proposed as an adjunctive therapy, but the limited experience and short follow-up periods do not permit formulation of meaningful conclusions at this time. Recurrences are common, although in a subset of patients prolonged disease-free survival is demonstrated.

2002 ◽  
Vol 12 (5) ◽  
pp. 1-4 ◽  
Author(s):  
Benjamin M. McGrew ◽  
C. Gary Jackson ◽  
Raquel A. Redtfeldt

Object Historically poor outcomes have been characteristic in patients with lateral skull base malignancies. As advances in skull base surgical techniques have been made, complete resection has increasingly been achieved. This has resulted in improved survival rates and local tumor control. Methods The authors performed a retrospective review of 95 patients treated for lateral skull base malignancies. The mean age of the patients was 49.4 years. There were 44 females and 51 males. The mean follow-up period was 50 months. Resection was performed in all patients, and postoperative radiotherapy was undertaken in 54% of the cases. Local disease control was maintained in 73% of the patients. Tumor involvement of the facial nerve and intracranial tumor extension did not jeopardize the rate of local control. Conclusions Despite the fact that technical advances in skull base surgery have resulted in a higher incidence of complete tumor resection and improved survival rates, a respect for the poor prognosis historically associated with lateral skull base malignancies should be maintained and treatment should be appropriately aggressive.


2007 ◽  
Vol 107 (4) ◽  
pp. 758-764 ◽  
Author(s):  
Juan J. Martin ◽  
Ajay Niranjan ◽  
Douglas Kondziolka ◽  
John C. Flickinger ◽  
Karl A. Lozanne ◽  
...  

Object Chordomas and chondrosarcomas of the skull base are aggressive and locally destructive tumors with a high tendency for local progression despite treatment. The authors evaluated the effect of stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) on local tumor control and survival. Methods Twenty-eight patients with histologically confirmed chordomas (18) or chondrosarcomas (10) underwent Gamma Knife SRS either as primary or adjuvant treatment. Their ages ranged from 17 to 72 years (median 44 years). The most common presenting symptom was diplopia (26 patients, 93%). In two patients, SRS was the sole treatment. Twenty-six patients underwent between one and five additional surgical procedures. Two underwent an initial trans-sphenoidal biopsy. The average tumor volume was 9.8 cm3. The median dose to the tumor margin was 16 Gy. Results No patient was lost to follow-up. Transient symptomatic adverse radiation effects developed in only one patient. The actuarial local tumor control for chondrosarcomas at 5 years was 80 ± 10.1%. For chordomas both the actuarial tumor control and survival was 62.9 ± 10.4%. Conclusions Stereotactic radiosurgery is an important option for skull base chordomas and chondrosarcomas either as primary or adjunctive treatment. Multimodal management appears crucial to improve tumor control in most patients.


2012 ◽  
Vol 30 (15) ◽  
pp. 1777-1783 ◽  
Author(s):  
Geert O. Janssens ◽  
Saskia E. Rademakers ◽  
Chris H. Terhaard ◽  
Patricia A. Doornaert ◽  
Hendrik P. Bijl ◽  
...  

Purpose To report the results from a randomized trial comparing accelerated radiotherapy (AR) with accelerated radiotherapy plus carbogen inhalation and nicotinamide (ARCON) in laryngeal cancer. Patients and Methods Patients with cT2-4 squamous cell laryngeal cancer were randomly assigned to AR (68 Gy within 36 to 38 days) or ARCON. To limit the risk of laryngeal necrosis, ARCON patients received 64 Gy on the laryngeal cartilage. The primary end point was local control. Secondary end points were regional control, larynx preservation, toxicity, disease-free survival, and overall survival. In a translational side study, the hypoxia marker pimonidazole was used to assess the oxygenation status in tumor biopsies. Results From April 2001 to February 2008, 345 patients were accrued. After a median follow-up of 44 months, local tumor control rate at 5 years was 78% for AR versus 79% for ARCON (P = .80), with larynx preservation rates of 84% and 87%, respectively (P = .48). The 5-year regional control was significantly better with ARCON (93%) compared with AR (86%, P = .04). The improvement in regional control was specifically observed in patients with hypoxic tumors and not in patients with well-oxygenated tumors (100% v 55%, respectively; P = .01). AR and ARCON produced equal levels of toxicity. Conclusion Despite lack of benefit in local tumor control for advanced laryngeal cancers, a significant gain in regional control rate, with equal levels of toxicity, was observed in favor of ARCON. The poor regional control of patients with hypoxic tumors is specifically countered by ARCON treatment.


1998 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 138-149 ◽  
Author(s):  
Akio Morita ◽  
Laligam N. Sekhar ◽  
Donald C. Wright

Background: Due to their involvement with critical neurovascular structures, tumors located in the cranial base present challenges to neurosurgeons and are associated with high morbidity and mortality. Methods: Rates of tumor control, complications, patient outcomes, and recurrences were extracted and summarized from two decades of our surgical and radiological treatment follow-up and review of the medical literature. Results: Recent advances in surgical techniques involving cranial base approaches have made surgical intervention safer and curative resection more likely. In managing benign tumors, surgical resection is the gold standard for treatment. While immediate complications are still significant, long-term outcomes in most cases are excellent. Focused radiosurgery using a gamma knife or linear accelerator has produced favorable outcomes, and it improves the management of small or minimally symptomatic cranial base tumors. For slow-growing malignant tumors, extensive surgery followed by radiotherapy achieves the best outcome. In managing highly malignant tumors, outcome is determined by the effects of chemotherapy and radiotherapy. On some occasions, surgery is needed to obtain greater control of highly malignant tumors. Conclusions: Skull base tumors are relatively common, and management of these tumors is rapidly evolving. The combination of surgical excision using cranial base techniques, radiosurgery, fractionated radiotherapy, and chemotherapy should be individually tailored based on the location and pathological aggressiveness of the tumor and the symptomatology of the patient. Appreciation is expressed to Jennifer Pryll for her illustrative and photographic assistance and to Joseph Reister for editing and preparing the manuscript.


Cancers ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (17) ◽  
pp. 4429
Author(s):  
Satoshi Kato ◽  
Satoru Demura ◽  
Kazuya Shinmura ◽  
Noriaki Yokogawa ◽  
Takaki Shimizu ◽  
...  

After the lung, the skeleton is the second most common site of distant metastases in differentiated thyroid carcinoma (DTC). Patients with osteolytic bone metastases (BMs) from thyroid carcinoma often have significantly reduced performance status and quality of life. Recent advancements in cancer therapy have improved overall survival in multiple cancer subtypes, including thyroid cancer. Therefore, long-term local control of thyroid BMs is desired, especially in patients with a single metastasis or oligometastases. Here, we reviewed the current management options for DTC-BMs and especially focused on local treatments for long-term local tumor control from an orthopedic tumor surgeon’s point of view. Metastasectomy and stereotactic radiosurgery can be performed either alone or in combination with radioiodine therapy and kinase inhibitors to cure skeletal lesions in selected patients. Percutaneous procedures have been developed in recent years, and they can also have a curative role in small BMs. Recent advancements in local therapies have the potential to provide not only long-term local tumor control but also a better prognosis.


Author(s):  
Emmanuel Egger ◽  
Ann Schalenbourg ◽  
Leonidas Zografos ◽  
Ludmila Bercher ◽  
Terence Boehringer ◽  
...  

2010 ◽  
Vol 113 (Special_Supplement) ◽  
pp. 90-96 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Yashar S. Kalani ◽  
Aristotelis S. Filippidis ◽  
Maziyar A. Kalani ◽  
Nader Sanai ◽  
David Brachman ◽  
...  

Object Resection and whole-brain radiation therapy (WBRT) have classically been the standard treatment for a single metastasis to the brain. The objective of this study was to evaluate the use of Gamma Knife surgery (GKS) as an alternative to WBRT in patients who had undergone resection and to evaluate patient survival and local tumor control. Methods The authors retrospectively reviewed the charts of 150 patients treated with a combination of stereotactic radiosurgery and resection of a cranial metastasis at their institution between April 1997 and September 2009. Patients who had multiple lesions or underwent both WBRT and GKS were excluded, as were patients for whom survival data beyond the initial treatment were not available. Clinical and imaging follow-up was assessed using notes from clinic visits and MR imaging studies when available. Follow-up data beyond the initial treatment and survival data were available for 68 patients. Results The study included 37 women (54.4%) and 31 men (45.6%) (mean age 60 years, range 28–89 years). In 45 patients (66.2%) there was systemic control of the primary tumor when the cranial metastasis was identified. The median duration between resection and radiosurgery was 15.5 days. The median volume of the treated cavity was 10.35 cm3 (range 0.9–45.4 cm3), and the median dose to the cavity margin was 15 Gy (range 14–30 Gy), delivered to the 50% isodose line (range 50%–76% isodose line). The patients' median preradiosurgery Karnofsky Performance Scale (KPS) score was 90 (range 40–100). During the follow-up period we identified 27 patients (39.7%) with recurrent tumor located either local or distant to the site of treatment. The median time from primary treatment of metastasis to recurrence was 10.6 months. The patients' median length of survival (interval between first treatment of cerebral metastasis and last follow-up) was 13.2 months. For the patient who died during follow-up, the median time from diagnosis of cerebral metastasis to death was 11.5 months. The median duration of survival from diagnosis of the primary cancer to last follow-up was 30.2 months. Patients with a pretreatment KPS score ≥ 90 had a median survival time of 23.2 months, and patients with a pretreatment KPS score < 90 had a median survival time of 10 months (p < 0.008). Systemic control of disease at the time of metastasis was not predictive of increased survival duration, although it did tend to improve survival. Conclusions Although the debate about the ideal form of radiation treatment after resection continues, these findings indicate that GKS combined with surgery offers comparable survival duration and local tumor control to WBRT for patients with a diagnosis of a single metastasis.


2020 ◽  
Vol 132 (6) ◽  
pp. 1675-1682 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jin Wook Kim ◽  
Hee-Won Jung ◽  
Yong Hwy Kim ◽  
Chul-Kee Park ◽  
Hyun-Tai Chung ◽  
...  

OBJECTIVEA thorough investigation of the long-term outcomes and chronological changes of multimodal treatments for petroclival meningiomas is required to establish optimal management strategies. The authors retrospectively reviewed the long-term clinical outcomes of patients with petroclival meningioma according to various treatments, including various surgical approaches, and they suggest treatment strategies based on 30 years of experience at a single institution.METHODSNinety-two patients with petroclival meningiomas were treated surgically at the authors’ institution from 1986 to 2015. Patient demographics, overall survival, local tumor control rates, and functional outcomes according to multimodal treatments, as well as chronological change in management strategies, were evaluated. The mean clinical and radiological follow-up periods were 121 months (range 1–368 months) and 105 months (range 1–348 months), respectively.RESULTSA posterior transpetrosal approach was most frequently selected and was followed in 44 patients (48%); a simple retrosigmoid approach, undertaken in 30 patients, was the second most common. The initial extent of resection and following adjuvant treatment modality were classified into 3 subgroups: gross-total resection (GTR) only in 13 patients; non-GTR treatment followed by adjuvant radiosurgery or radiation therapy (non-GTR+RS/RT) in 56 patients; and non-GTR without adjuvant treatment (non-GTR only) in 23 patients. The overall progression-free survival rate was 85.8% at 5 years and 81.2% at 10 years. Progression or recurrence rates according to each subgroup were 7.7%, 12.5%, and 30.4%, respectively.CONCLUSIONSThe authors’ preferred multimodal treatment strategy, that of planned incomplete resection and subsequent adjuvant radiosurgery, is a feasible option for the management of patients with large petroclival meningiomas, considering both local tumor control and postoperative quality of life.


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