Treatment burden and long-term health deficits of patients with low-grade gliomas or glioneuronal tumors diagnosed during the first year of life.

Abstract

Low-grade gliomas (LGGs) and low-grade glioneuronal tumors (LGGNTs) diagnosed during the first year of life carry unique clinical characteristics and challenges in management. However, data on the treatment burden, outcomes, and morbidities are lacking. A retrospective study of LGGs and LGGNTs diagnosed in patients younger than 12 months at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital (1986-2015) was conducted. For the 51 patients (including 31 males), the mean age at diagnosis was 6.47 months (range, 0.17-11.76 months), and the mean follow-up period was 11.8 years (range, 0.21-29.19 years). Tumor locations were hypothalamic/optic pathway (61%), hemispheric (12%), brainstem (12%), cerebellar (8%), and spinal (8%). There were 41 patients with histological diagnoses: 28 had World Health Organization grade 1 tumors, 6 had grade 2 tumors, and 7 had an LGG/LGGNT not definitively graded. Forty-one patients required an active intervention at diagnosis. Throughout their treatment course, 41 patients eventually underwent tumor-directed surgeries (median, 2 surgeries; range, 1-6), 39 received chemotherapy (median, 2 regimens; range, 1-13), and 21 received radiotherapy. Forty patients experienced disease progression (median, 2 progressions; range, 1-18). Ten patients died of progression (n=5), malignant transformation (n=2), a second cancer (n=2), or a shunt infection (n=1). The 10-year overall survival, progression-free survival, and radiation-free survival rates were 85% ± 5.3%, 16.9% ± 5.3%, and 51.2% ± 7.5%, respectively. Forty-nine patients experienced health deficits (eg, endocrinopathies, obesity, seizures, visual/hearing impairments, neurocognitive impairments, and cerebrovascular disease). Predictors of progression and toxicities were defined. Infantile LGG/LGGNT is a chronic, progressive disease universally associated with long-term morbidities and requires multidisciplinary intervention.