Results of Treatment for Children with Primary Brain Tumors :
Long-Term Follow Up Results of a Single Institute

Choi, Sung-Yeon; Won, Sung-Chul; Lyu, Chuhl-Joo; Oh, Seung-Hwan; Yang, Chang-Hyun; Suh, Chang-Ok; Choi, Joong-Uhn; Kim, Byung-Soo

Original Article

Journal of the Korean Pediatric Society 2002;45(8):1016-1023.
Published online August 15, 2002.

Results of Treatment for Children with Primary Brain Tumors : Long-Term Follow Up Results of a Single Institute

Sung-Yeon Choi¹, Sung-Chul Won¹, Chuhl-Joo Lyu¹, Seung-Hwan Oh¹, Chang-Hyun Yang¹, Chang-Ok Suh², Joong-Uhn Choi³, Byung-Soo Kim¹

¹Departments of Pediatrics, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea
²Departments of Radiation Oncology, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea
³Departments of Neurosurgery, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea

소아 원발성 뇌종양의 치료 결과 :단일 기관에서의 장기간 추적 관찰

최성연^¹^, 원성철^¹^, 유철주^¹^, 오승환^¹^, 양창현^¹^, 서창옥^²^, 최중언^³^, 김병수^¹

^¹연세대학교 의과대학 소아과학교실
^²연세대학교 의과대학 방사선종양학교실
^³연세대학교 의과대학 신경외과학교실

Correspondence:
Chuhl-Joo Lyu, Email: cj@yumc.yonsei.ac.kr

Abstract

Purpose
: Brain tumors are the most common solid tumor in children. We retrospectively investigated the clinical characteristics of pediatric brain tumors, such as age, sex, tumor site and survival, as seen in a single institution over the last 15 years. We tried to evaluate the role of chemotherapy on the survival of some brain tumors.
Methods
: Three hundred fifty four children with primary brain tumor who were treated at Severance Hospital from Jan. 1985 to Sep. 2001 were enrolled.
Results
: Pediatric brain tumors were found most frequently in 10-15 years of age group(35.3%) and the ratio of male to female was 1.3 : 1. Supratentorial tumors(52%) were more frequent than infratentorial tumors(48%). Medulloblastoma/primitive neuroectodermal tumor(PNET) was the most common type(24.6%), followed by cerebellar astrocytoma(14.1%). Ten year survival rate of medulloblastoma, cerebellar astrocytoma and cerebral astrocytoma were 59.4%, 79.3% and 71%, respectively. The prognosis for brain stem glioma and glioblastoma multiforme were still grim with a 10 year survival rate of 12.7% and 13.3%, respectively. The addition of chemotherapy for high grade medulloblastoma led to an improved 10 year survival rate of 54.5%, compared with 40% without chemotherapy.
Conclusion
: The combined use of chemotherapy and radiation and surgery improved survival rate of pediatric brain tumors in our study. Chemotherapy for high grade medulloblastoma improved the 10 year survival rate. Further data analysis of the treatment modalities will lead to better comparisons.

Key Words: Pediatric brain tumor, Treatment, Survival, Chemotherapy