• Reiko Imai, Tadashi Kamada, Hiroshi Tsuji, Shinji Sugawara, Itsuko Serizawa, Hirohiko Tsujii, Shin-ichiro Tatezaki, and Working Group for Bone and Soft Tissue Sarcomas.
• Research Center Hospital for Charged Particle Therapy, National Institute of Radiological Sciences, Chiba, Japan. r_imai@nirs.go.jp
• Int. J. Radiat. Oncol. Biol. Phys. 2010 Aug 1; 77 (5): 1470-6.

PurposeTo summarize the results of treatment for sacral chordoma in Phase I-II and Phase II carbon ion radiotherapy trials for bone and soft-tissue sarcomas.Patients And MethodsWe performed a retrospective analysis of 38 patients with medically unresectable sacral chordomas treated with the Heavy Ion Medical Accelerator in Chiba, Japan between 1996 and 2003. Of the 38 patients, 30 had not received previous treatment and 8 had locally recurrent tumor after previous resection. The applied carbon ion dose was 52.8-73.6 Gray equivalents (median, 70.4) in a total of 16 fixed fractions within 4 weeks.ResultsThe median patient age was 66 years. The cranial tumor extension was S2 or greater in 31 patients. The median clinical target volume was 523 cm(3). The median follow-up period was 80 months. The 5-year overall survival rate was 86%, and the 5-year local control rate was 89%. After treatment, 27 of 30 patients with primary tumor remained ambulatory with or without supportive devices. Two patients experienced severe skin or soft-tissue complications requiring skin grafts.ConclusionCarbon ion radiotherapy appears effective and safe in the treatment of patients with sacral chordoma and offers a promising alternative to surgery.Copyright 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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