Recurrent medulloblastoma

✍ Scribed by C. Mooney; R. Souhami; J. Pritchard

• Publisher: Springer
• Year: 1983
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 180 KB
• Volume: 10
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0344-5704
• DOI: 10.1007/bf00446227

✦ Synopsis

Medulloblastoma accounts for approximately 20% of primary intracerebral turnouts in children and the 5-year survival is still in the region of 40% [1,5]. Several studies have shown that recurrent medulloblastoma sometimes responds to chemotherapy; the drugs most widely used are nitrosoureas, procarbazine and vincristine, alone or in combination. Unfortunately, the response rates are low and responses are not usually sustained even using these agents in combination [3,4,7]. Information on responsiveness to other drugs is, therefore, urgently needed.

Rosen et al. [6] reported responses in five of seven children treated with high-dose methotrexate (HI) MTX) for recurrent medulloblastoma, and Djerassi [2] also reported a response in one case. HD MTX/folinic acid (FA) therapy is non-myelosuppressive and, consequently, is attractive as a candidate for adjuvant use in newly diagnosed patients. We have, therefore, attempted to conform the anti-turnoutactivity in five children with recurrent medulloblastoma.

Five patients with recurrent medulloblastoma were treated. In each the initial diagnosis had been made by biopsy at the time of presentation. Details of the cases are given in Table 1. Each had been treated initially by craniospinal irradiation (50 Gy to the posterior fossa, 35 Gy to the whole brain and 30 Gy to the spinal cord).