Radiation therapy in paediatric gliomas: our institutional experience.

Background And Purpose: The aim of our retrospective study was to analyze the clinical outcome of paediatric glioma patients treated with radiation therapy (RT) in our institution.

Material And Methods: We retrieved the case records of all children with gliomas (age < 18 years) who received RT in our department between 2004 and 2007. We analyzed the information regarding patients' demography, clinical details, treatment given, RT details, and survival. The event-free survival (EFS), the period from the date of completion of RT to the date of the event, i.e. death/recurrence, was calculated with respect to age, sex, location of tumour (brainstem vs. non-brainstem), histopathology (low grade vs. high grade), extent of surgical resection, dose and duration of RT, and use of chemotherapy.

Results: A total of 70 children with glioma received RT during the above-mentioned period. The 3-year EFS rate for all patients was 44% and the median EFS period was 18 months. The 3-year EFS in patients who underwent surgical decompression and no surgery was 58% and 25%, respectively (p < 0.05). Patients with brainstem lesions had statistically significantly lower 3-year EFS to non-brainstem gliomas (28% vs. 56%, p < 0.01). Chemotherapy use showed no statistically significant trend towards better survival.

Conclusions: RT is an effective modality of treatment in paediatric glioma patients in our setup. Early use of RT in incompletely resected low-grade gliomas is worth revisit-ing. Results of chemotherapy in high-grade glioma and brainstem gliomas are encouraging.