Ahmed Marzouk Maklad, Clinical Oncology, Sohag University, Sohag 11432, Egypt
Mutahir A Tunio, Ali Abdullah O Balbaid, Radiation Oncology, Comprehensive Cancer Center, King Fahad Medical City, Riyadh-59046, Saudi Arabia
Author contributions: Bayoumi Y and Sabbagh AJ designed the study; Mohamed R, ElShokhaiby UM, Maklad AM and Balbaid AAO collected the data; Mohamed R, Maklad AM and Tunio MA analyzed the data; Mohamed R, Maklad AM and Balbaid AAO wrote the manuscript; Bayoumi Y, Sabbagh AJ, ElShokhaiby UM and Tunio MA, edited the manuscript; Bayoumi Y, Sabbagh AJ, ElShokhaiby UM, Maklad AM and Tunio MA reviewed the manuscript.
Correspondence to: Mutahir A Tunio, FCPS (Radiation Oncology), Assistant Consultant, Radiation Oncology, Comprehensive Cancer Center, King Fahad Medical City, Khurais Road, Riyadh-59046, Saudi Arabia. mkhairuddin@kfmc.med.sa
Telephone: +966-12-889999 Fax: +966-12-889965
Received: February 12, 2014 Revised: April 16, 2014 Accepted: June 10, 2014 Published online: December 10, 2014 Processing time: 301 Days and 15.3 Hours
Core Tip
Core tip: Brain stem gliomas (BSG) are a heterogeneous group of tumors with a poor prognosis. We analyzed 49 BSG patients from July 2001 to December 2012 with a median age of 12.6 years (range: 8-64 mo). Twenty-two patients (44.9%) had diffuse intrinsic pontine gliomas (DIPG) and 15 (30.6%) presented with focal/tectal BSG. Histopathology was available in 30 patients (61.2%). Median survival time for the whole cohort was 1.5 years. One and two year OS rates were 51.1% and 41.9% respectively. Two year OS rates for focal/tectal, dorsally exophytic, cervicomedullary and DIPG tumors were 60%, 33.3%, 33.3% and 13.6% respectively (P < 0.0001). We concluded that BSG, especially the DIPG subgroup, had a dismal prognosis, needing more aggressive neurosurgical, radiation and chemotherapy techniques, while focal and tectal tumors were found to have a better prognosis.
