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Radiation therapy for pineal and suprasellar germ cell tumors
Author(s) -
Rich Tyvin A.,
Cassady J. Robert,
Strand Roy D.,
Winston Ken R.
Publication year - 1985
Publication title -
cancer
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.052
H-Index - 304
eISSN - 1097-0142
pISSN - 0008-543X
DOI - 10.1002/1097-0142(19850301)55:5<932::aid-cncr2820550504>3.0.co;2-h
Subject(s) - medicine , germ cell tumors , radiation therapy , germ cell , radiology , chemotherapy , biology , biochemistry , gene
Radiation therapy (XRT) was used in the treatment of 25 patients with tumors of the pineal and suprasellar locations. A tissue diagnosis was obtained before XRT in 5 patients, and 20 were irradiated without histologic verification. The overall survival rate is 80% (76% with no evidence of disease (NED). Megavoltage XRT was delivered to the entire neuraxis in 22 patients, and 86% (19/22) are alive from 4 to 88 months (median, 30 months) after treatment. In two of three patients treated only to local fields, tumor recurred in the spine; both are dead of disease. Biopsy‐proven germinomas and multiple midline tumors responded favorably to XRT, whereas solitary pineal tumors and teratomas with marker positivity (human chorionic gonadotropin, alpha‐fetoprotein) did not respond as well. The endocrinologic presentation, tumor marker status, and early response to radiation measured on computed tomography are useful means for selecting patients for radiation therapy.