PT - JOURNAL ARTICLE AU - CHRISTOF M. KRAMM AU - SABINE WAGNER AU - STEFAN VAN GOOL AU - HANSJÖRG SCHMID AU - RONALD STRÄTER AU - ASTRID GNEKOW AU - STEFAN RUTKOWSKI AU - JOHANNES E. A. WOLFF TI - Improved Survival after Gross Total Resection of Malignant Gliomas in Pediatric Patients from the HIT-GBM Studies DP - 2006 Sep 01 TA - Anticancer Research PG - 3773--3779 VI - 26 IP - 5B 4099 - http://ar.iiarjournals.org/content/26/5B/3773.short 4100 - http://ar.iiarjournals.org/content/26/5B/3773.full SO - Anticancer Res2006 Sep 01; 26 AB - The present study was performed to investigate the prognostic impact of tumor resection on survival in children and adolescents with malignant gliomas. From the HIT-GBM data base of the Gesellschaft für Paediatrische Onkologie und Haematologie (GPOH), 85 pediatric patients with malignant non-pontine gliomas were analyzed. Histological diagnosis and extent of tumor resection had been confirmed by central neuropathological review and post-surgical imaging. The extent of tumor resection represented the most prominent prognostic factor for overall (OS) and event-free survival (EFS) in univariate and Cox regression analyses. Four-year survival after gross total tumor resection was 48.0±12.0% (OS) and 14.1±8.9% (EFS), after non-total resection 13.2±6.1% and 2.9±2.8%, respectively. From several clinical parameters, only histological grading displayed a similar statistical significance in Cox regression analysis. In conclusion, gross total tumor resection improves survival in pediatric patients with malignant gliomas and should always be attempted when possible.