Survival of children under 3 years old with medulloblastoma: a study from the Mexican Cooperative Group for Childhood Malignancies (AMOHP).

Background: The prognosis of medulloblastoma in children under 3 years of age is poor.

Methods: A retrospective analysis was performed to evaluate children under 3 years of age with medulloblastoma. Overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS) were assessed in children with and without metastasis.

Results: A total of 534 children were diagnosed with medulloblastoma during the study period, 49 (9.1%) of whom were under 3 years of age and were evaluated. Their ages ranged from 5 to 35 months with a mean of 18.5 months. In 39 (79.6%) of these patients the tumors were staged as T3M0 or under, while 10 (20.4%) had metastasis at diagnosis. The OS was 38% and PFS 37% in the whole series, while PFS was 32% in those with metastasis and 40% in those without ( P=0.78). For those who received radiotherapy the PFS was 62%, and in those not treated with radiotherapy PFS was nil ( P=0.0001). When the children were divided into those who received surgical treatment plus chemotherapy and those who received surgery plus radiotherapy plus chemotherapy, the PFS was nil and 66%, respectively ( P=0.00001).

Conclusion: Because of the high morbidity of radiotherapy in children under 3 years old, surgery continues to be the basis of improved prognosis, followed by chemotherapy.