Relapse pattern and quality of life in patients with localized basal ganglia germinoma receiving focal radiotherapy, whole-brain radiotherapy, or craniospinal irradiation.

Background And Purpose: The optimal target volume in localized basal ganglia (BG) germinoma is still undetermined. Thus, based on the relapse pattern and health-related quality of life (HRQOL), we evaluated three target volumes.

Material And Methods: The clinical data of 161 patients with localized BG germinoma were included in this retrospective study. Relapse status and relapse sites after treatment were explored. HRQOL was evaluated using the Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory 4.0 (PedsQL 4.0) (≤15 years) and Short Form-36 (SF-36) (>15 years) questionnaires based on the patients' age at last follow-up.

Results: After a median follow-up duration of 83 months (range, 20-214 months), 19 patients experienced relapse, including 15, 4, and 0 patients in the focal radiotherapy (FR) (n = 35), whole-brain radiotherapy (WBRT) plus boost (n = 109), and craniospinal irradiation (CSI) plus boost (n = 17) groups, respectively. The 5-year disease-free survival rates were 74.3%, 97.2%, and 100%, respectively (p < 0.001). Among the 15 patients who relapsed after FR, 14 had positive radiological findings, including seven (50.0%) with lesions in the periventricular area and seven (50.0%) with frontal lobe lesions. Relapse in both these areas were significantly reduced by WBRT or CSI. HRQOL data were available for 69 patients, who generally scored low. Among 38 patients evaluated by SF-36, those receiving CSI had significantly lower mental component scores than those receiving WBRT (p = 0.027) or FR (p = 0.011).

Conclusions: Considering both disease control and HRQOL, WBRT is the optimal target volume in our series. The relapse pattern identified in patients receiving FR is informative for further treatment volume optimization.