Abstract
Medulloblastoma is a type of malignant embryonal tumor in childhood that is considered to require multiagent chemotherapy followed by radical resection and craniospinal irradiation (CSI). However, the outcomes of chemotherapy for this tumor in Japan are unclear. Here, we performed a multicenter retrospective study to determine the prognosis of pediatric medulloblastoma patients in Japan treated with the St. Jude medulloblastoma-96 (SJMB96) regimen. Thirty patients with newly diagnosed medulloblastoma received treatment with the SJMB96 regimen at Juntendo University Hospital in Tokyo (n=10), Saitama Medical University International Medical Center in Saitama (n=10), and Tohoku University Hospital in Miyagi (n=10) from 2011 to 2018. All patients underwent tumor resection and CSI, with radiation doses of 23.4Gy for standard-risk patients (n=11) and 39.6Gy for high-risk patients (n=19). Six weeks after radiation therapy, patients received four cycles of high-dose chemotherapy with autologous peripheral blood stem cell transplantation according to the SJMB96 regimen. We found that 5-year overall survival was 80.8% among standard-risk patients and 74.2% among high-risk patients. No treatment-related deaths occurred. Eight patients who experienced recurrence died within 80 months of diagnosis. As these treatment outcomes are comparable to those previously reported outside of Japan, our findings indicate that this regimen is a therapeutic option for medulloblastoma patients in Japan.