Aim: To evaluate the use of chemotherapy and radiation, and their outcomes for patients with astroblastoma.
Patients & methods: This is a retrospective review of patients extracted from the National Cancer Database. We investigated overall survival (OS) using Kaplan-Meier curves. Cox proportional hazards models were used to correlate OS with risk variables and treatments.
Results: OS at 5 years was 79.5%. Patients with high-grade tumors were more likely to receive chemotherapy and radiation. Patients with high-grade astroblastoma who did not receive adjuvant radiation had poor survival.
Conclusion: Patients with astroblastoma should be treated with curative intent. Radiation is likely beneficial in high-grade astroblastoma. The exact role of radiation and chemotherapy following surgical resection warrant further investigation.
Keywords: astroblastoma; brain tumor; neuro-oncology; pediatric oncology; rare tumor.