The treatment of ependymoma of the brain or spinal canal by radiotherapy: a report of 79 cases.

Seventy-nine patients (54 adults, 25 children) with ependymomas of the brain or spinal canal were treated by radiotherapy between 1956 and 1980. The survival was 50% at 5 years and 40% at 15 years and was significantly better in adults than in children. Survival did not depend upon the extent of surgical removal, site of tumour or histological grade. Cranio-spinal radiation may improve survival in children.