Thalamic Ganglioglioma Treated With Radical Radiotherapy: A Rare Location and an Exclusive Form of Treatment

Gangliogliomas (GG) are rare primary central nervous system (CNS) tumors. These CNS tumors are more commonly located at the supratentorial level. The treatment of choice for these tumors is surgical resection, and the role of radiotherapy remains controversial. A 61-year-old woman who presented with seizures underwent a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), which showed a left-side thalamic lesion with one solid and two cystic components. A neuronavigation-guided brain biopsy of the lesion established the diagnosis of GG, with expression of glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) for glial cells and neuron-specific enolase (NSE) and synaptophysin for ganglion cells. Due to the location of the lesion, the patient underwent radical radiotherapy. Post-treatment MRIs revealed a reduction in tumor dimensions. In conclusion, we emphasize the role of radiotherapy in the treatment of cerebral GG.