Metastatic medulloblastoma: the experience of the French Cooperative M7 Group

A retrospective analysis was performed to determine the outcome of children with metastatic medulloblastoma given a standardised treatment programme. Of 68 consecutive patients treated in the French M7 protocol for medulloblastoma, 23 presented with metastatic disease. They were uniformly treated with surgery, and the same protocol of chemotherapy and craniospinal radiotherapy. The 7-year relapse-free survival rate is 43% for metastatic patients compared to 68% for patients with localised disease. Survival did not correlate with age, sex, location of metastases, extent of initial surgery and the dose of radiation therapy on the posterior fossa. Survival did correlate with the dose to the cranial field with a threshold dose of 30 Gy. Patients with metastatic disease have a worse prognosis and require more aggressive therapies at initial presentation. The prognostic impact of the different sites of metastatic disease requires further evaluation in cooperative studies.