Radiation-induced brain injury in patients with meningioma treated with proton or photon therapy.

INTRODUCTION: Radiation therapy is often used to treat meningioma with adverse features or when unresectable. Proton therapy has advantages over photon therapy in reducing integral dose to the brain. This study compared the incidence of radiological and clinical adverse events after photon versus proton therapy in the treatment of meningioma. METHODS: A retrospective review was conducted on patients with meningioma treated with proton or photon therapy at two high-volume tertiary cancer centers. Patients with a history of prior radiation therapy (RT) or less than 3 months of follow-up were excluded. Post-RT imaging changes were categorized into abnormal T2 signal intensities (T2 changes) or abnormal T1 post-contrast and T2 signal intensities (T1c+T2 changes) on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Clinical outcomes of adverse events and survival were compared between the proton and photon therapies. RESULTS: Among the total of 77 patients, 38 patients received proton therapy and 39 patients received photon therapy. The median age at diagnosis was 55 years and median follow-up was 2.2 years. No significant differences in symptomatic adverse events were observed between the two groups: grade ≥ 2 adverse events were seen in 4 (10.5%) patients in the proton group and 3 (7.7%) patients in the photon group (p = 0.67). The 2-year cumulative incidences of T2 changes were 38.3% after proton therapy and 47.7% after photon therapy (p = 0.53) and the 2-year cumulative incidences of T1c+T2 changes were 26.8% after proton therapy and 5.3% after photon therapy (p = 0.02). One patient experienced grade ≥ 4 adverse event in each group (p = 0.99). Estimated 2-year progression-free survival was 79.5% (proton therapy 76.0% vs. photon therapy 81.3%, p = 0.66) and 2-year overall survival was 89.7% (proton therapy 86.6% vs. photon therapy 89.3%, p = 0.65). CONCLUSIONS: Following RT, high rates of T2 changes were seen in meningioma patients regardless of treatment modality. Proton therapy was associated with significantly higher rates of T1c+T2 changes compared with photon therapy, but severe adverse events were uncommon in both groups and survival outcomes were comparable between the two groups. Future studies will aim at correlating the MRI changes with models that can be incorporated into RT planning to avoid toxicity.

Short Course Hypofractionated Radiotherapy for Frail or Elderly Patients With Meningioma.

Purpose/Objective(s) The incidence of intracranial meningiomas increases with age. The standard of care treatment is complete surgical excision, followed by radiation therapy (RT) if indicated. However, six weeks of RT can be challenging for elderly or frail patients. The purpose of this study was to determine if short course RT is safe and effective in elderly patients with meningioma. Materials/Methods We performed a retrospective analysis of patients with meningioma treated with short course beam RT (5-15 fractions) at a single institution. Seventeen patients (94%) received 4005 cGy over 15 fractions and one patient (6%) received 2500 cGy over five fractions. Study endpoints were treatment toxicity (edema), progression-free (PFS) and overall survival (OS). Results Eighteen patients with histologically proven (n = 12) or radiologically presumed meningioma (n = 6, presumed grade I) were identified. Median age at treatment was 85 years (66-95 years). There were eight, eight and two patients with grade I, II and III tumours, respectively. Eight patients (44%) had radiologic edema prior to RT. Six (33%) required dexamethasone treatment during RT and the dose was increased during RT for two patients. Fourteen patients had reduced or no edema post-RT and 13 patients had stable or improving symptoms post-RT. Six patients had disease progression (five in-field, one out-of-field). Median PFS was 3.3 and 0.9 years for grade I and II/III tumours, respectively (p = 0.014). Median OS was 3.3 and 2.5 years for grade I and II/III tumours, respectively (p = 0.12). Conclusion Short course RT for elderly patients with meningioma is well-tolerated and can offer disease control for some patients, particularly those with grade I tumours.