Fischer E G, Welch K, Belli J A, Wallman J, Shillito J J, Winston K R, Cassady R
J Neurosurg. 1985 Apr;62(4):496-501. doi: 10.3171/jns.1985.62.4.0496.
Between 1972 and 1981, 37 children with craniopharyngioma were cared for at Children's Hospital, Boston. In this paper, the results of treatment with radiation therapy after conservative operations are compared with those following an initial attempt to excise the tumor. Radiation therapy was equally, if not more, effective than attempted excision in controlling subsequent tumor growth. Although this was not a controlled study, the complications of each approach are indicated, and it is inferred that conservative operations combined with radiation therapy offer less risk for psychosocial impairment than does attempted tumor excision when patients are considered as a group. The ultimate effect that either approach might have on quality of life remains to be defined, and therapy must still be individualized to the particular clinical problem.
1972年至1981年间，波士顿儿童医院收治了37例颅咽管瘤患儿。本文将保守手术后放疗的治疗结果与初次尝试切除肿瘤后的结果进行了比较。在控制肿瘤后续生长方面，放疗即便不比肿瘤切除更有效，至少也是同样有效的。尽管这并非一项对照研究，但文中指出了每种治疗方法的并发症，并推断当把患者作为一个整体来看时，与尝试切除肿瘤相比，保守手术联合放疗对心理社会功能损害的风险更低。两种方法对生活质量可能产生的最终影响仍有待确定，并且治疗仍必须根据具体的临床问题进行个体化。
