Central Nervous System Atypical Teratoid/Rhabdoid Tumor: Results of Therapy in Children Enrolled in a Registry

PURPOSE: Atypical teratoid/rhabdoid tumor (AT/RT) of the CNS is an extremely rare and aggressive tumor of early childhood. The poor outcome with conventional infant brain tumor therapy has resulted in a lack of clear treatment guidelines. A registry has been established to create an outcomes database and to facilitate biology studies for this tumor. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A standardized data sheet was provided to treating physicians listing the reports that were to be sent to the registry for abstraction. Follow-up information was sought twice yearly. RESULTS: Information was complete for 42 patients. Median age at diagnosis was 24 months. Nine patients (21%) had disseminated disease at diagnosis. Sixteen tumors were infratentorial; 26 were supratentorial. Twenty patients (48%) received a primary complete resection. Primary therapy included chemotherapy in all patients, radiotherapy in 13 patients (31%), stem-cell rescue in 13 patients (31%), and intrathecal chemotherapy in 16 patients (38%). Recurrent or progressive disease was reported in nine and 19 patients, respectively. Twenty-seven patients (64%) are dead of disease (3 to 62 months from diagnosis) and one patient died of toxicity. Fourteen patients (33%) show no evidence of disease (9.5 to 96 months from diagnosis). The median survival is 16.75 months and the median event-free survival is 10 months. CONCLUSION: Aggressive therapy has prolonged the natural history in a subset of children. Prospective multi-institutional and national clinical trials designed specifically for AT/RT are needed. Enrollment onto the AT/RT registry should be continued.