Vol 25, No 2 (2020)
Original research articles
Published online: 2020-03-01

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Secondary brain tumors after cranial radiation therapy: A single-institution study

Masazumi Fujii1, Masahiro Ichikawa1, Kensho Iwatate1, Mudathir Bakhit1, Masayuki Yamada1, Yosuke Kuromi1, Taku Sato1, Jun Sakuma1, Hisashi Sato2, Atsushi Kikuta3, Yoshiyuki Suzuki2, Kiyoshi Saito1
DOI: 10.1016/j.rpor.2020.01.009
Rep Pract Oncol Radiother 2020;25(2):245-249.

Abstract

Aim

To study the probability of developing secondary brain tumors after cranial radiotherapy.

Background Patients treated with cranial radiotherapy are at risk for developing secondary brain tumors.

Patients and methods

We planned an institutional survey for secondary brain tumors in survivors after cranial irradiation and reviewed the 30-year duration data. Event analysis and cumulative proportion curves were performed to generally estimate the cumulative proportion of developing secondary brain tumors, cavernoma and meningioma at different periods of time.

Results

Secondary brain tumors occurred in 21% of cases: 10% were cavernomas, 6% were meningiomas, 3% were skull osteomas, and 1% were anaplastic astrocytoma. The cumulative proportion of developing secondary brain tumor was 6% at 10 years and 20% at 20 years, while the cumulative proportion for developing cavernomas and meningiomas was 16% and 7% at 20 years, respectively.

Conclusion

Our study shows that patients who received cranial irradiation were at risk of secondary brain tumors such as cavernomas and meningiomas. Thus, a meticulous follow-up of cancer survivors with history of cranial irradiation by an annual MRI scan is justifiable. This will help clinicians to detect secondary brain tumors early and make its management much easier.

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Reports of Practical Oncology and Radiotherapy