Treatment > Cisplatin  

Meeting Abstract

Adult cerebellar medulloblastoma at Ben Taub General Hospital

Mothaffar F Rimawi, Suleiman Massarweh, Vu Ho, Uday Popat, Garrett R Lynch

Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX

Medulloblastoma is one of the most common CNS tumors of childhood age. 
However, it is rarely encountered in adults. 
We describe 11 adult patients with cerebellar medulloblastoma seen at Ben Taub General Hospital over a 10-year period. 
There were 9 males and 2 females. 
Ten patients were of  Hispanic origin and the median age at presentation was 26 years (Range 18-40). 
All patients presented with symptoms of increased intracranial pressure (headache and vomiting) with variable degrees of cerebellar dysfunction. 
Median duration of symptoms was 8 weeks. 
Three tumors were midline and eight were lateral in location. 
Obstructive hydrocephalus was present in all patients. 
Three of the tumors had a cystic component. 
All but one patient had disease localized to the posterior fossa. 
All patients underwent surgical resection with VP shunt placement. 
Gross total resection was documented in 8 patients, and confirmed by postoperative imaging. 
Adjuvant craniospinal irradiation was given to all patients (3600cGy to the brain, 1800cGy posterior fossa boost and 3600cGy to the spine). 
Adjuvant chemotherapy with Cisplatin 68 mg/m2, CCNU 75 mg/m2, and Vincristine 2 mg every 6-8 weeks for a total of 6-8 cycles was given to 5 patients. Median survival for all patients was 77 months. 
There was no survival advantage for the chemotherapy treated patients.

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