Long-term tumor control after Gamma Knife radiosurgery for sporadic vestibular schwannoma

The objective of this study was to describe the long-term efficacy of single-fraction stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) for the primary treatment of sporadic vestibular schwannoma.

Adult (≥ 18 years of age) patients with sporadic vestibular schwannoma who underwent SRS from 2000 through 2022 were included.

A total of 749 patients met inclusion criteria, the majority (n = 566, 76%) of whom had tumors extending into the cerebellopontine angle at SRS. The median patient age at SRS was 62 years, half (50%) of the patients were women, and 744 (99%) exhibited House-Brackmann grade I facial nerve function at SRS. A total of 42 patients experienced radiosurgical failure and underwent salvage treatment; the median duration of follow-up for the patients who did not undergo salvage treatment was 7.0 years. Overall tumor control rates (95% CI, number still at risk) at 1, 3, 5, 10, and 15 years after SRS were 100% (100%-100%, 718), 98% (97%-99%, 589), 96% (94%-97%, 464), 92% (90%-95%, 258), and 91% (89%-94%, 125), respectively. Patient age (hazard ratio [HR] for a 10-year increase of 0.92, 95% CI 0.71-1.19; p = 0.5), presence of a macrocystic tumor (HR 0.59, 95% CI 0.14-2.46; p = 0.5), and treated tumor volume (HR for a 1-cm3 increase of 1.02, 95% CI 0.88-1.18; p = 0.8) were not significantly associated with the risk of salvage. Three distinct post-SRS tumor behavior patterns were observed, with 13% of patients demonstrating tumor pseudoprogression, all but 4 of whom demonstrated pseudoprogression by year 5 post-SRS.

SRS demonstrates durable tumor control through 15 years of follow-up in most patients (91%); however, a minority are found to still experience SRS failure even beyond 10 years of surveillance. Although occurring in only a minority of patients, tumor pseudoprogression can be evident out to 5 years or longer post-SRS.