Long-term endocrine sequelae after treatment of medulloblastoma: prospective study of growth and thyroid function

Endocrine evaluations were performed prospectively in 22 patients with medulloblastoma (ages 2 1/2 to 23 1/2 years at diagnosis), after craniospinal radiation with or without adjuvant chemotherapy. The mean craniospinal hypothalamic-pituitary). and thyroid radiation doses were 3600 and 2400 rads, respectively. Fourteen (73%) of 19 patients who had not yet completed their growth experienced a decrease in growth velocity. However, only three of 10 of these children, who underwent growth hormone stimulation tests, had evidence of deficient growth hormone responses, suggesting that growth hormone secretory or regulatory dysfunction, rather than absolute growth hormone deficiency, is present in the majority of these children. Elevated thyroid-stimulating hormone levels were noted in 15 of 22 patients; one patient had hypothalamic hypothyroidism. Thus, the late effects of therapy for medulloblastoma include frequent endocrine morbidity involving hypothalamic-pituitary and thyroid dysfunction.