Systemic Metastasis of Pediatric Diffuse High-grade Astrocytoma: A Case Report

Extracranial brain tumor metastases are extremely rare. The etiology, pathophysiology, and clinical progression of systemic metastatic brain cancer remain to be elucidated. We encountered a case of pediatric diffuse high-grade astrocytoma in a four-year-old girl with subcutaneous and lymph node metastases. Numerous metastatic lesions emerged, progressed rapidly, and were difficult to manage despite temozolomide (TMZ) administration. The patient underwent repeated surgical resection for these lesions. Conversely, the primary intracranial lesions responded well to TMZ for some time. However, the patient died 15 months after the initial diagnosis. Extracranial metastasis and highly varying effects of chemotherapy were the characteristic clinical features in this case. Our analysis did not reveal definitive histopathological and molecular factors contributing to this presentation. The lack of notable molecular pathological features illustrates the unpredictability of glioma metastasis, and the treatment for extracranial metastasis remains unknown. A gene panel analysis revealed several genetic aberrations, including PDGFRA, PIK3CA, and NBN mutations. As it is impossible to resect all frequently and rapidly progressing lesions, we stress that the prognosis of metastatic brain tumors is undoubtedly poor if these tumors are refractory to existing treatments, including chemotherapy.