Skip Navigation

Neuro-Oncology 2009 11(5):543-549; doi:10.1215/15228517-2008-122
This Article
Right arrow Full Text Freely available
Right arrow FREE Full Text (PDF) Freely available
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Banerjee, J.
Right arrow Articles by Harila-Saari, A.
PubMed
Right arrow Articles by Banerjee, J.
Right arrow Articles by Harila-Saari, A.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

Copyright 2009 by the Society for Neuro-Oncology

Radiation-induced meningiomas: A shadow in the success story of childhood leukemia

Joanna Banerjee, Eija Pääkkö, Marika Harila, Riitta Herva, Juho Tuominen, Antero Koivula, Marjatta Lanning and Arja Harila-Saari

Departments of Pediatrics (J.B., M.L., A.H.-S.), Neurology (M.H.), Radiology (E.P.), Pathology (R.H.), Neurosurgery (J.T.), and Oncology and Radiotherapy (A.K.), University Hospital of Oulu, Oulu, Finland

Address correspondence to Arja Harila-Saari, P.O. Box 23, Oulu 90029, Finland (arja.harila-saari{at}oulu.fi).


  Abstract

While the prognosis of acute childhood leukemia has improved, long-term survivors are increasingly experiencing late effects of the treatment. Cranially irradiated survivors are predisposed to the development of CNS tumors. Our aim was to describe the incidence of secondary brain tumors and to define the significance of treatment-related risk factors and host characteristics in a cohort of childhood leukemia survivors. Our cohort consisted of 60 consecutive cranially irradiated adult survivors of childhood leukemia treated in Oulu University Hospital (Oulu, Finland); MRI of the brain was performed on 49. The sites of the tumors, their histology, and details of the leukemia treatment were determined. Of the 49 patients, 11 (22%) 1–8 years of age at the time of diagnosis developed meningioma later in life, while no other brain tumors were seen. In this cohort, the development of meningioma seemed to show undisputable linkage with long latency periods (mean, 25 years; range, 14–34 years) and an increasing incidence 20 years after the treatment (47%). Three patients had multiple meningiomas, two had recurrent disease, and one had an atypical meningioma. Age at the time of irradiation, gender, or cumulative doses of chemotherapeutic agents showed no significant association with the development of meningiomas. The high incidence of meningiomas in this study was associated with long follow-up periods. Although the cohort is small, it seems probable that the increasing incidence of meningioma will shadow the future of cranially irradiated leukemia survivors. Systematic brain imaging after the treatment is therefore justifiable.

Keywords: acute leukemia, brain tumor, cranial radiation therapy, meningioma, second neoplasm

Received July 7, 2008; Accepted November 26, 2008


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?




Disclaimer: Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.