Management of paediatric intracranial ependymoma.

Intracranial ependymoma are relatively common paediatric brain tumours, but their eloquent location and high recurrence rate pose a significant challenge. Gross total resection or maximum safe resection followed by adjuvant radiotherapy are currently the standard recommended treatment, although there is still nearly 50% recurrence risk at 5 years. Chemotherapy has shown some promising results after recent advances in molecular understanding of ependymomas, but needs further evaluation before it could be added to the treatment regime.

Newly Diagnosed Metastatic Intracranial Ependymoma in Children: Frequency, Molecular Characteristics, Treatment, and Outcome in the Prospective HIT Series.

BACKGROUND: Data on frequency, clinical presentation, and outcome of primary metastatic intracranial ependymoma in children are scarce. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Prospective data on patients younger than 21 years with metastatic intracranial ependymoma at first diagnosis, registered from 2001 to 2014 in the HIT-2000 trial and the HIT-2000 Interim Registry, were analyzed. RESULTS: Of 453 registered patients with intracranial ependymoma and central neuropathology review, initial staging included spinal magnetic resonance imaging in all patients and lumbar cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) analysis in 402 patients. Ten patients (2.2%) had metastatic disease, including three with microscopic CSF positivity only (M1 metastasis stage, 0.7% of patients with CSF staging). Location of the primary tumor was supratentorial in four patients (all supratentorial RELA-fused ependymoma [ST-EPN-RELA]) and within the posterior fossa in five patients (posterior fossa ependymoma type A [PF-EPN-A], n = 4; posterior fossa ependymoma not further classifiable, n = 1), and multifocal in one patient.All four patients with ST-EPN-RELA were alive in first or second complete remission (CR) 7.5-12.3 years after diagnosis. All four patients with macroscopic metastases of posterior fossa or multifocal ependymoma died. Three patients with initial M1 stage (ST-EPN-RELA, n = 1; PF-EPN-A, n = 2) received chemotherapy and local irradiation and were alive in second or third CR 3.0-9.7 years after diagnosis. Progression-free and overall survival of the entire cohort at 5 years was 13% (±6%), and 58% (±16%), respectively. CONCLUSION: Primary metastatic disease is rare in children with intracranial ependymoma. Prognosis may depend on molecular subgroup and extent of dissemination, and relevance of CSF analysis for initial staging remains to be clarified. IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: Childhood ependymoma presenting with metastasis at first diagnosis is very rare with a frequency of 2.4% in this population-based, well-characterized cohort. Detection of microscopic metastases in the cerebrospinal fluid was extremely rare, and impact on prognosis and respective treatment decision on irradiation field remains unclear. Initial metastatic presentation occurs in both supratentorial RELA-fused ependymoma and posterior fossa ependymoma. Prognosis may differ according to extent of metastasis and biological subgroup, with poor prognosis in diffusely spread metastatic posterior fossa ependymoma even after combination therapy with both intensive chemotherapy and craniospinal irradiation, which may help to guide individual therapeutic decisions for future patients.

Progression-free survival of children with localized ependymoma treated with intensity-modulated radiation therapy or proton-beam radiation therapy.

BACKGROUND: The treatment for childhood intracranial ependymoma includes maximal surgical resection followed by involved-field radiotherapy, commonly in the form of intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT). Proton-beam radiation therapy (PRT) is used at some centers in an effort to decrease long-term toxicity. Although protons have the theoretical advantage of a minimal exit dose to the surrounding uninvolved brain tissue, it is unknown whether they have the same efficacy as photons in preventing local recurrence. METHODS: A retrospective review of medical records from September 2000 to April 2013 was performed. Seventy-nine children with newly diagnosed localized intracranial ependymomas treated with either IMRT (n = 38) or PRT (n = 41) were identified, and progression-free survival (PFS) was analyzed with Kaplan-Meier and Cox multivariate analyses. RESULTS: The median age at diagnosis was 3.7 years for all patients (range, 0.4-18.7 years). There were 54 patients with infratentorial tumors (68% of the total population). Patients treated with PRT were younger (median age, 2.5 vs 5.7 years; P = .001) and had a shorter median follow-up (2.6 vs 4.9 years; P < .0001). Gross total resection (GTR) was achieved in 67 patients (85%) and was more frequent in the PRT group versus the IMRT group (93% vs 76%; P = .043). The 3-year PFS rates were 60% and 82% with IMRT and PRT, respectively (P = .031). CONCLUSIONS: Children with localized ependymomas treated with PRT have a 3-year PFS rate comparable to that of children treated with IMRT. This analysis suggests that local control is not compromised by the use of PRT. The data also support GTR as the only prognostic factor for PFS. Cancer 2017;123:2570-78. © 2017 American Cancer Society.

Chemotherapy for intracranial ependymoma in adults.

BACKGROUND: Ependymal tumors in adults are rare, accounting for less than 4% of primary tumors of the central nervous system in this age group. The low prevalence of intracranial ependymoma in adults limits the ability to perform clinical trials. Therefore, treatment decisions are based on small, mostly retrospective studies and the role of chemotherapy has remained unclear. METHODS: We performed a retrospective study on 17 adult patients diagnosed with intracranial World Health Organisation grade II or III ependymoma, who were treated with chemotherapy at any time during the disease course. Benefit from chemotherapy was estimated by applying Macdonald criteria. Progression-free (PFS) and overall survival (OS) were calculated from start of chemotherapy, using the Kaplan-Meier method. RESULTS: Eleven patients had supratentorial and 6 infratentorial tumors. Ten patients were treated with temozolomide (TMZ), 3 with procarbazine/lomustine/vincristine (PCV), 3 with platinum-based chemotherapy and 1 patient received epirubicin/ifosfamide. Response rates were as follows: TMZ 8/10 stable disease; PCV 3/3 stable disease; platinum-based chemotherapy 1/3 partial response; epirubicin/ifosfamide 1/1 complete response. PFS rates at 6, 12 and 24 months were 52.9, 35.3 and 23.5%. OS rates at 6, 12 and 24 months were 82.4, 82.4 and 70.1%. There was no indication for a favourable prognostic role of O(6)-methylguanyl-DNA-methyltransferase (MGMT) promoter methylation which was detected in 3/12 investigated tumors. CONCLUSIONS: Survival outcomes in response to chemotherapy in adult intracranial ependymoma patients vary substantially, but individual patients may respond to any kind of chemotherapy. There were too few patients to compare survival data between chemotherapeutic subgroups.

Second series by the Italian Association of Pediatric Hematology and Oncology of children and adolescents with intracranial ependymoma: an integrated molecular and clinical characterization with a long-term follow-up.

BACKGROUND: A prospective 2002-2014 study stratified 160 patients by resection extent and histological grade, reporting results in 2016. We re-analyzed the series after a median of 119 months, adding retrospectively patients' molecular features. METHODS: Follow-up of all patients was updated. DNA copy number analysis and gene-fusion detection could be completed for 94/160 patients, methylation classification for 68. RESULTS: Progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) at 5/10 years were 66/58%, and 80/73%. Ten patients had late relapses (range 66-126 mo), surviving after relapse no longer than those relapsing earlier (0-5 y). On multivariable analysis a better PFS was associated with grade II tumor and complete surgery at diagnosis and/or at radiotherapy; female sex and complete resection showed a positive association with OS. Posterior fossa (PF) tumors scoring ≥0.80 on DNA methylation analysis were classified as PFA (n = 41) and PFB (n = 9). PFB patients had better PFS and OS. Eighteen/32 supratentorial tumors were classified as RELA, and 3 as other molecular entities (anaplastic PXA, LGG MYB, HGNET). RELA had no prognostic impact. Patients with 1q gain or cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor 2A (CDKN2A) loss had worse outcomes, included significantly more patients >3 years old (P = 0.050) and cases of dissemination at relapse (P = 0.007). CONCLUSIONS: Previously described prognostic factors were confirmed at 10-year follow-up. Late relapses occurred in 6.2% of patients. Specific molecular features may affect outcome: PFB patients had a very good prognosis; 1q gain and CDKN2A loss were associated with dissemination. To draw reliable conclusions, modern ependymoma trials need to combine diagnostics with molecular risk stratification and long-term follow-up.

Intracranial ependymomas: The role of advanced neuroimaging in diagnosis and management.

Intracranial ependymomas represent a rare subgroup of glial tumours, showing a wide variety of imaging characteristics, often representing a challenging diagnosis for neuroradiologists. Here, we review the most recent scientific Literature on intracranial ependymomas, highlighting the most characteristic computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging features of these neoplasms, along with epidemiologic data, recent classification aspects, clinical presentation and conventional therapeutic strategies. In addition, we report an illustrative case of an 18-year-old girl presenting with an intracranial supratentorial, anaplastic ependymoma, with the aim of contributing to the existing knowledge and comprehension of this rare tumour.

Mutation Profiling of Intracranial Myxopapillary Ependymoma by Next Generation DNA Sequencing.

OBJECTIVES: Primary intracranial myxopapillary ependymomas (MPE) are very rare. In order to determine genomic changes in an intracranial MPE, we analyzed its mutation patterns by next generation DNA sequencing. METHODS: Tumor DNA was sequenced using an Ion PI v3 chip on Ion Proton instrument and the data were analyzed by Ion Reporter 5.6. RESULTS: In this tumor, NGS generated 6,298, 354 mapped reads using the Ion PI v3 Chip. The average reads per amplicon was 29,365, 100% of amplicons had at least 500 reads and the amplicons read end-to-end were 97.58%. In this tumor, NGS data analysis identified 12 variants, of which two were missense mutations, seven were synonymous mutations and three were intronic variants. Missense mutation in c.395G>A; in exon 4 of the IDH1 gene, and a missense mutation in c.215C>G; in exon 4 of the TP53 gene were found in this tumor were previously reported. The known synonymous mutations were found in this tumor were, in exon 14 of FGFR3 in c.1953G>A; in exon 12 of PDGFRA in c.1701A>G; in exon 18 of PDGFRA c.2472C>T; in exon 20 of EGFR in c.2361G>A; in exon 13 of RET in c.2307G>T; in exon 16 of APC in c.4479G>A; and in exon 2 of MET in c.534C>T. Additionally, a known intronic variant was identified in KDR and a known acceptor site splice variant in FLT3 (rs2491231) and a SNP in the 3 ' -UTR of the CSF1R gene (rs2066934) were also identified. Except, the frequency of IDH1 variant, the frequencies of other variants were high, and the p-values were significant and Phred scores were high for all of these mutations. CONCLUSIONS: The variants reported in this tumor have not been detected in myxopapillary grade I ependymoma tumor by NGS analysis previously and we therefore report these variants in this case for the first time.

Caracterización de los pacientes con ependimoma intracraneal en el hospital pediátrico Juan Manuel Márquez. 2012-2017 / Characterization of patients with intracranial ependymoma in the pediatric hospital Juan Manuel Márquez. 2012-2017

RESUMEN Introducción: los ependimomas constituyen aproximadamente del 3-5 % de los tumores intracraneales y del 5-10 % de los tumores cerebrales, en la edad pediátrica. Objetivo: caracterizar los pacientes con ependimomas intracraneales intervenidos quirúrgicamente, en el Hospital Pediátrico ¨Juan Manuel Márquez. ¨ Materiales y método: estudio descriptivo, retrospectivo, a pacientes en edad pediátrica con diagnóstico histológico de ependimoma de localización intracraneal. En el período de enero 2012 a diciembre 2017. El universo quedó conformado por todos los pacientes en edad pediátrica operados con diagnóstico histológico de ependimoma intracraneal en el lugar y período antes mencionado (N=22). Resultados: la edad media fue 2,75 años con límites entre 1 y 17 y una desviación estándar de 3,65. Los pacientes del sexo masculino representaron el 63,64 %, la relación con el sexo femenino en los primeros 4 años fue de 1:1. En cuanto al cuadro clínico, se observó predominio de la hidrocefalia en el 72,73 % de los pacientes. Los ependimomas intracraneales de localización infratentorial, (63,64 %) predominaron. El 45,45 % de las lesiones estudiadas se correspondían con el subtipo histológico de ependimoma anaplásico. Conclusiones: la combinación de cirugía, radioterapia y quimioterapia se empleó en la mayoría de los casos. Predominó el abordaje directo de la lesión a través de craneotomía y exéresis adecuada a la localización del ependimoma, sin embargo, en la mayoría solo se logró resección entre el 50 y 90 %. En la mayoría de los pacientes la evolución luego del diagnóstico, evidenció una tendencia hacia la estabilidad (AU).

ABSTRACT Introduction: ependymoma are almost 3-5 % of the intracranial tumors and 5-10 % of the brain tumors in pediatric age. Objective: to characterize the patients with intracranial ependymoma who underwent surgery in the Pediatric Hospital ¨Juan Manuel Márquez.¨ Materials and method: retrospective, descriptive study of patients in pediatric age with histological diagnosis of ependymoma of intracranial location in the period January 2012-December 2017. The universe was formed by all patients of pediatric age who underwent surgery with histological diagnosis of intracranial ependymoma in the before-mentioned place and period (N=22). Results: the average age was 2.75 years with limits between 1 and 17 years old. Male patients represented 63.64 %; the relation with female sex during the first 4 years was 1:1. Regarding the clinical characteristics, hydrocephaly predominated in 72.73 % of patients. Intracranial ependymoma of infratentorial location (63.64 %) predominated. 45.45 % of the studied lesions corresponded to the histological subtype of anaplastic ependymoma. Conclusions: the combination of surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy was used in most of the cases. The direct approach of the lesion through craniotomy and a removal adequate to ependymoma location predominated. However, in most of them just the resection of 50-90 % was achieved. The evolution of most of patients after the diagnosis evidenced a tendency to the stability (AU).

Ependimoma intracraneal: apuntes clínicos, moleculares y anatomopatológicos / Intracranial ependymoma: clinical, molecular and pathological notes

RESUMEN Los ependimomas surgen de las células ependimarias que revisten los ventrículos y los pasajes en el encéfalo y el centro de la médula espinal. Las células ependimarias producen líquido cefalorraquídeo. Se decidió la realización de una revisión acerca del ependimoma intracraneal teniendo en cuenta que no existe artículo nacional que trate este tema, siendo la mayoría de los trabajos consultados referentes a la misma variante histológica pero en localización espinal, cuyo objetivo es describir la características clínicas, moleculares y anatomopatológicas del ependimoma intracraneal. Se realizó la búsqueda de artículos en revistas de las bases de datos: PubMed, Scielo y EBSCO. La búsqueda se limitó a artículos con el texto completo, publicados fundamentalmente en los últimos cinco años. El ependimoma intracraneal es un tumor frecuente en la edad pediátrica, sus manifestaciones clínicas dependen de su localización, presenta una gran diversidad molecular y anatomoptológica (AU).

SUMMARY Ependymomas arise from ependymal cells that line the ventricles and passages in the brain and center of the spinal cord. Ependymal cells produce cerebrospinal fluid. It was decided to conduct a review about intracranial ependymoma taking into account that there is no national article dealing with this issue, with most of the works consulted referring to the same histological variant but in spinal location, whose objective is to describe the clinical characteristics, Molecular and pathological pathways of intracranial ependymoma. We searched articles in journals of the databases: PubMed, Scielo and EBSCO. The search was limited to articles with the full text, published mainly in the last five years. Intracranial ependymoma is a frequent tumor in the pediatric age, its clinical manifestations depend on its location, it has a great molecular and anatomoptological diversity (AU).

CT,MRI features and pathology of supratentorial gliomas and ependymoma-contrast study of ultrastructure and immunohistochemistry / 中国实用内科杂志

Objective To study the correlation of supratentorial gliomas and ependymoma between the features of pathology and the characteristic of CT,MRI and provide relevant data for diagnosis and treatment.Methods We analysised 60 patients with gliomas and 40 with ependymoma,contrasted their characteristic of CT,MRI with the features of pathology.Results The feature of irregular appearance,lobulation,tumor wall,tumor tubercle,necrotic cystiform zone,hemorrhage and tumor blood vessels were showed in CT and MRI,which was accord with the alteration of ultrastructure and the expression of tumous label.Conclusion Studying the morphology of supratentorial gliomas and ependymoma may be helpful to raise the veracity of pathologic grading,provide evidence to select treatment,operation and anti-vasoformation of the tumor etc.