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Medulloblastoma

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Radiation Oncology for Pediatric CNS Tumors

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Abstract

The current survival outcome for children with medulloblastoma is a remarkable testimony for the multidisciplinary approach in the management of pediatric brain tumors. Children older than 3 years of age who have a less than 1.5 cm2 residual tumor after resection with no evidence of dissemination (M0) are classified as having standard-risk disease, while those with a larger tumor bed residual or with tumor dissemination are classified as having high-risk disease. Treatment for these patients includes craniospinal irradiation followed by a boost to the posterior fossa or posterior fossa tumor bed as well as cisplatin-based chemotherapy. For children younger than 3 years, surgery followed by chemotherapy is the most common treatment approach with or without primary site radiotherapy (RT). Currently, four molecular subtypes of medulloblastoma with prognostic implications have been identified. Current protocols are examining de-escalation of treatment for some children with Wnt-pathway tumors with more aggressive therapy for Group 3 and 4 subtypes.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Radiation Oncology, MD Anderson Cancer Center, 1515 Holcombe Blvd, Box 97, Houston, TX, 77030, USA

    Arnold C. Paulino M.D.

  2. Department of Radiation Oncology, Centre Lyon Berard, Lyon, France

    Christian Carrie M.D.

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  1. Arnold C. Paulino M.D.
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Correspondence to Arnold C. Paulino M.D. .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Dept. of Radiation Oncology, Mayo Clinic Dept. of Radiation Oncology, Rochester, Minnesota, USA

    Anita Mahajan

  2. MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas, USA

    Arnold Paulino

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Paulino, A.C., Carrie, C. (2018). Medulloblastoma. In: Mahajan, A., Paulino, A. (eds) Radiation Oncology for Pediatric CNS Tumors. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-55430-3_6

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