Treatment for recurrent medulloblastoma with intrathecal liposomal cytarabine and systemic metronomic combination therapy

Abstract

The prognosis of recurrent medulloblastoma is dismal, with a median survival of less than 1 year. Our patient was initially diagnosed with high-risk medulloblastoma when he was 14 years old. He had a recurrence 18 months after the end of therapy. Recurrence treatment consisted of 13 intrathecal applications of liposomal cytarabine over an 18-month period, and oral metronomic antiangiogenic therapy with thalidomide, celecoxib, and etoposide. Side effects from the intrathecal treatment were most likely related to arachnoiditis despite prolonged prophylaxis with steroids. He also developed partial hearing loss. Neutropenia was the main side effect of the metronomic therapy. He remains alive, with a good quality of life and without evidence of disease 34 months from the start of recurrence therapy. This combination of local antineoplastic and systemic antiangiogenic therapy seems to be promising for recurrent medulloblastoma. However, more patients and standardized protocols are needed to verify the benefit of this combination therapy and to define the correct duration of treatment.