A New Sarcoma Shortly after Treatment for High-Grade Glioma with Adjuvant Chemoradiation: A Case Report

High-grade gliomas are central nervous system tumors conventionally treated with surgery followed by adjuvant chemoradiotherapy. Secondary cancer due to radiation therapy is a rare yet established phenomenon that typically occurs years after radiation therapy.

In this case, we discuss an early presentation of a second cancer adjacent to the radiation field. This case report is of a 52-year-old male who developed a new scalp sarcoma at the site of primary surgery 8 months after radiation therapy. Genetic testing revealed a heterozygous missense variant in the NF1 gene, a variant of uncertain significance. The report highlights that this case does not conform to the expected criteria for postradiation sarcoma in terms of timing.

Secondary cancers may arise earlier than expected, even in phenotypically normal patients, as they may have unmanifested variants of relevant mutations. The question of pre-radiotherapy screening for radiosensitivity syndromes and diseases requires further study, as current data are limited and do not provide enough insight into the significance of different genetic variants.