Observation on the therapeutic efficacy and survival rate of oral Etoposide in children with disseminated medulloblastoma after the standard treatment plan / 中华实用儿科临床杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective:To explore the therapeutic efficacy and toxicity of oral Etoposide chemotherapy in children with disseminated medulloblastoma (MB) after the standard treatment plan.Methods:The clinical data of 86 children with disseminated MB admitted in the Department of Pediatrics, Beijing Shijitan Hospital of Capital Medical University from January 2016 to May 2020 were analyzed retrospectively.The median age of children was 8.8 (3.0-16.7) years old.Among them, 33 children treated with maintenance chemotherapy via oral Etoposide were included in the chemotherapy group, and 53 children without oral maintenance chemotherapy were included in the non-chemotherapy group.The gender distribution, surgical resection range, pathological type, molecular classification, postoperative mutism, M-stage and survival[progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS)] of the 2 groups were compared.The main adverse events of oral Etoposide chemotherapy were recorded. Chi- square test is used for data comparison, Kaplan-Meier method was used to plot the survival curve of disseminated MB patients, followed by the Log- rank test. Results:There were no significant differences in gender, surgical resection range, pathological type, molecular typing, postoperative mutism and M-stage between the 2 groups (all P>0.05). Of 86 patients, the median PFS and OS were 3.0 (0.2-6.3) years, and 3.6 (0.5-6.3) years, respectively.Twenty five cases (29.1%) relapsed, 13 cases (15.1%) died.The 3-year[(65.8±6.8)% vs.(82.0±7.3)%] and 5-year PFS[(56.8±7.7)% vs.(82.0±7.3)%] in non-chemotherapy group were significantly lower than those of chemotherapy group ( P=0.037). The 3-year[(81.6±5.6)% vs.100.0%] and 5-year OS[(71.2±7.7)% vs.(92.3±7.4)%] in non-chemotherapy group were significantly lower than those of chemotherapy group ( P=0.025). Among the children with the SHH subtype, the PFS of children with oral Etoposide maintenance chemotherapy after a regular treatment was significantly higher than that without oral maintenance chemotherapy (100.0% vs.57.1%)( P=0.021). The major adverse events of oral Etoposide were myelosuppression and gastrointestinal symptoms, which were mostly relieved after a symptomatic treatment.Treatment-related deaths were not reported. Conclusions:The prognosis of disseminated MB in children is relatively poor.Oral Etoposide for maintenance therapy after a standard treatment is beneficial in reducing relapse and improving the 5-year survival, which is well tolerated.