Atypical teratoid/rhabdoid tumors in children treated with multimodal therapies: The necessity of upfront radiotherapy after surgery.

BACKGROUND

Atypical teratoid/rhabdoid tumor (ATRT) is a rare malignant pediatric brain tumor with a dismal prognosis. We evaluated the efficacy of multimodal therapy in children with ATRT.

PROCEDURE

Nine children diagnosed with cranial ATRT, who received multimodal therapy between 2005 and 2014, including surgical resection followed by radiotherapy (RT), systemic chemotherapy (CT), and high-dose chemotherapy/stem cell transplantation (HDCT/SCT), were analyzed retrospectively. The median age at diagnosis was 32 months. Initial treatment included surgery in eight patients (88%), CT in all (100%), RT in eight (88%), and HDCT/SCT in seven (78%).

RESULTS

The median follow-up period for survivors was 21 months. The 2-year progression-free rate was 66.7%. Two patients had progression 4 and 17 months after diagnosis. One received multimodal treatment, including surgery and upfront CT with delayed RT; the other underwent surgery and upfront CT without RT. The 2-year event-free survival and overall survival rates were 46.7% and 62.2%, respectively. Hematologic toxicity of grade 3 or more was observed in six patients treated with HDCT/SCT and two who underwent craniospinal irradiation. Deaths were attributed to progressive disease (n = 2) and treatment-related toxicity (n = 2) from sepsis and acute respiratory failure after CT and HDCT/SCT.

CONCLUSIONS

Maximal safe resection in conjunction with upfront RT is a reasonable multimodal treatment in patients with ATRT for prolonging progression-free survival. Further research may help determine the optimal parameters for reducing treatment toxicity, such as intensity of HDCT/SCT and the RT field.