Cancer
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Current treatment for childhood intracranial ependymomas with surgery and radiation therapy (RT) yields 5-year survival rates ranging from 50-70% after complete resection to 0-30% after incomplete surgical resection. The role of chemotherapy in the treatment of ependymoma has not been established. In this pilot study, children with newly diagnosed intracranial ependymoma were treated with RT and chemotherapy using agents comparable to those found to be active in the treatment of intracranial ependymoma in infants. ⋯ The PFS for children with postoperative residual ependymoma treated with RT and chemotherapy in this study was higher than published survival results for RT alone. These results suggest a role for multialkylator chemotherapy in incompletely resected intracranial ependymoma and provide the rationale for a randomized trial comparing this strategy with conventional postoperative RT.