Long-term survival following additive radiotherapy in patients with atypical teratoid rhabdoid tumors

Background Atypical teratoid rhabdoid tumor (ATRT) is a highly aggressive disease of embryonic origin accounting for <5% of all pediatric central nervous system (CNS) tumors. Patients and methods We describe a series of five cases of CNS ATRT. The first three patients underwent subtotal tumor resection. Gross total resection of the tumor was achieved in the fourth and fifth patients. Only 4 patients received chemotherapy, whereas all 5 patients received additive radiotherapy (RT). The latter included three dimensional (3D) conformal RT or intensity modulated RT (IMRT) with a median dose of 54 Gy (range 50.4–59.0 Gy) applied in daily fractions of 1.8 Gy. The median interval between surgery and RT was 5 months (range 2–11 months). Results Two months after completion of RT, 4 patients had achieved complete radiologic remission. The median event-free survival period was 46 months (range 10–90 months). However, the first patient died 17 months after developing an out-of-field recurrence. The third patient developed a recurrence 11 months after salvage RT. The other 3 patients (cases 2, 4, and 5) remain alive with no evidence of disease 59, 46 and 90 months after therapy, respectively. Conclusion Overall, the 5 patients survived for a median of 48 months (range 25–90 months) from the time of initial diagnosis and they tolerated the RT well, without severe acute or late onset toxicities. The results imply a potential survival gain after irradiation at acceptable toxicity level.