Very long-term sequelae of craniopharyngioma.

OBJECTIVE: Studies investigating long-term health conditions in patients with craniopharyngioma are limited by short follow-up durations and generally do not compare long-term health effects according to initial craniopharyngioma treatment approach. In addition, studies comparing long-term health conditions between patients with childhood- and adult-onset craniopharyngioma report conflicting results. The objective of this study was to analyse a full spectrum of long-term health effects in patients with craniopharyngioma according to initial treatment approach and age group at craniopharyngioma presentation. DESIGN: Cross-sectional study based on retrospective data. METHODS: We studied a single-centre cohort of 128 patients with craniopharyngioma treated from 1980 onwards (63 patients with childhood-onset disease). Median follow-up since craniopharyngioma presentation was 13 years (interquartile range: 5-23 years). Initial craniopharyngioma treatment approaches included gross total resection (n = 25), subtotal resection without radiotherapy (n = 44), subtotal resection with radiotherapy (n = 25), cyst aspiration without radiotherapy (n = 8), and 90Yttrium brachytherapy (n = 21). RESULTS: Pituitary hormone deficiencies (98%), visual disturbances (75%) and obesity (56%) were the most common long-term health conditions observed. Different initial craniopharyngioma treatment approaches resulted in similar long-term health effects. Patients with childhood-onset craniopharyngioma experienced significantly more growth hormone deficiency, diabetes insipidus, panhypopituitarism, morbid obesity, epilepsy and psychiatric conditions compared with patients with adult-onset disease. Recurrence-/progression-free survival was significantly lower after initial craniopharyngioma treatment with cyst aspiration compared with other therapeutic approaches. Survival was similar between patients with childhood- and adult-onset craniopharyngioma. CONCLUSIONS: Long-term health conditions were comparable after different initial craniopharyngioma treatment approaches and were generally more frequent in patients with childhood- compared with adult-onset disease.

Nomogram for predicting pathologically complete response after neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy for oesophageal cancer.

BACKGROUND: A pathologically complete response (pCR) to neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy (nCRT) is seen in 30% of the patients with oesophageal cancer. The aim is to identify patient and tumour characteristics associated with a pCR and to develop a nomogram for the prediction of pCR. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Patients who underwent nCRT followed by surgery were identified and response to nCRT was assessed according to a modified Mandard classification in the resection specimen. A model was developed with age, gender, histology and location of the tumour, differentiation grade, alcohol use, smoking, percentage weight loss, Charlson Comorbidity Index (CCI), cT-stage and cN-stage as potential predictors for pCR. Probability of pCR was studied via logistic regression. Performance of the prediction nomogram was quantified using the concordance statistic (c-statistic) and corrected for optimism. RESULTS: A total of 381 patients were included. After surgery, 27.6% of the tumours showed a pCR. Female sex, squamous cell histology, poor differentiation grade, and low cT-stage were predictive for a pCR with a c-statistic of 0.64 (corrected for optimism). CONCLUSION: A nomogram for the prediction of pathologically complete response after neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy was developed, with a reasonable predictive power. This nomogram needs external validation before it can be used for individualised clinical decision-making.