This article is more than 5 years old. Information may no longer be current.
IMRT yielded encouraging local control in certain pediatric gliomas
Click Here to Manage Email Alerts
Intensity-modulated radiation therapy was associated with similar local control rates as other forms of radiation in a cohort of children with low-grade gliomas, according to study results.
The researchers conducted the investigation to assess local control and patterns of failure of low-grade glioma in a cohort of 39 pediatric patients who were treated with IMRT.
Eligible children had undergone incomplete resection or experienced disease progression.
Study protocols included three methods of target delineation. In the first group (n=19), clinicians delineated a gross tumor volume and added a 1-cm margin to create the clinical target volume. In the second group (n=6), a 0.5-cm margin around the gross tumor volume was added to create the clinical target volume. In the third group (n=14), clinicians used a dose-painting strategy in which a gross tumor volume was delineated with a second target volume that was created by adding 1 cm to the gross tumor volume.
Patients in the first two groups received a median of 50.4 Gy to the gross tumor volume, which was the same as the dose to clinical target volume. In the third group, a median of 50.4 Gy was prescribed to the gross tumor volume, while a median dose of 41.4 Gy was prescribed to the second target volume.
At 8 years, overall PS was 78.2%, which researchers said compared favorably to prior reports. OS was 93.7%. Seven treatment failures occurred, all in the high-dose (≥95%) region of the IMRT field.
Multivariate analysis showed being aged 5 years or younger at the time of IMRT was associated with poorer PFS.
“IMRT provided local control rates comparable to those provided by 2-D and 3-D radiotherapy,” the researchers concluded.
Adding margins of at least 1 cm to the gross tumor volume may not be necessary due to the fact that dose painting and a 0.5-cm margin yielded encouraging local control, the researchers added.
Click Here to Manage Email Alerts