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Spinal myxopapillary ependymoma outcomes in patients treated with surgery and radiotherapy at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center

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Abstract

This study was undertaken to determine the disease outcomes in patients treated with surgery alone or surgery and adjuvant radiotherapy (RT) for myxopapillary ependymoma (MPE) of the spine. The medical records of 35 patients with MPE treated at The University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center between December 1968 and July 2002 were reviewed. The endpoints analyzed were progression-free survival (PFS), overall survival, and local control. The median age of patients was 35 years (range, 14–63 years), and the male to female ratio was 2.5:1. In total, 21 (60%) patients underwent a gross total resection, 13 (37%) a subtotal resection, and 1 (3%) a biopsy only; 22 of them (63%) also received adjuvant RT. The median follow-up was 10.7 years. The 10-year overall survival, PFS, and local control rates for the entire group were 97%, 62%, and 72%, respectively. Of 11 patients 5 (45%) who had undergone gross total resection alone had recurrence. A total of 12 (34%) patients had disease recurrence, all in the neural axis; 8 of them had treatment failure at the primary site only, 3 in the distant neural axis only, and 1 at the primary site and in the distant neural axis. Patient age (> 35 years; P = 0.002) and adjuvant RT (P = 0.04) significantly affected PFS. The long-term patient survival duration for MPE managed with surgery and adjuvant RT is favorable. Regardless of the extent of resection, adjuvant RT appears to significantly reduce the rate of tumor progression. Failures occurred exclusively in the neural axis, mainly at the primary site.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Radiation Oncology, The University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, 1515 Holcombe Blvd., # 97, Houston, TX , 77030, USA

    Serap Akyurek, Eric L. Chang, Tse-Kuan Yu, Darrin Little, Pamela K. Allen, Anita Mahajan, Moshe H. Maor & Shiao Y. Woo

  2. Department of Radiation Oncology, Ankara University School of Medicine, Ankara, Turkey

    Serap Akyurek

  3. Department of Neurosurgery, The University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX , 77030, USA

    Ian McCutcheon

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  1. Serap Akyurek
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  2. Eric L. Chang
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  3. Tse-Kuan Yu
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  4. Darrin Little
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  5. Pamela K. Allen
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  6. Ian McCutcheon
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  7. Anita Mahajan
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  8. Moshe H. Maor
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  9. Shiao Y. Woo
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Correspondence to Eric L. Chang.

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Akyurek, S., Chang, E.L., Yu, TK. et al. Spinal myxopapillary ependymoma outcomes in patients treated with surgery and radiotherapy at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center. J Neurooncol 80, 177–183 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11060-006-9169-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11060-006-9169-2

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