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Material and Method: The clinical outcome of 39 pediatric patients treated with SRS/FSRT between 1998 and 2010 was retrospectively reviewed.
Results: The median follow-up time was 26 months (range, 1 to 154 months). The local progression free survival (LPFS) at one and five years after SRS/FSRT for all patients was 87.5% and 54.2%, respectively. The 5-year LPFS by tumor histology was as follow, pituitary adenoma 100%, meningioma 100%, ependymoma, and low-grade astrocytoma 75%, and craniopharyngioma 68.6%. High-grade tumor had the worst LPFS and the median LPFS of this group was only 12 months. On univariate analysis, low-grade tumor (pituitary adenoma and menigioma) and small tumor volume (< 10 ml) were the factors that correlated significantly with good local control. After multivariate analysis, small tumor volume was the only factor associated with good LPFS (HR = 2.35, p = 0.042). No other radiation complication except panhypopituitarism was reported.
Conclusion: SRS/FSRT in pediatric brain tumor is technically feasible, with minimal acute side effects. SRS/FSRT plays an important role for the small low-grade tumor.
Keywords: Stereotactic radiation, SRS, FSRT, Pediatrics, Brain tumors