Events Calendar

Myrsini Ioakeim-Ioannidou, MGH; Manuel Patino Galindo, MGH; Tanaz Sharifnia, BROAD Institute; Norbert Liebsch, MGH; Shannon MacDonald, MGH: Proton Radiation Therapy for Pediatric Chordomas.
Tuesday 28 April 2020, 12:00pm - 01:00pm

Chordomas are rare, malignant tumors that arise from ectopic remnants of the embryonic notochord. Pediatric chordomas are very rare and comprise 5% of all chordoma cases. Treatment for chordomas generally involves high-dose proton radiation therapy (PRT), preferably after gross total resection if this can be performed with acceptable morbidity. Between 1980 and 2019, approximately 800 adult and 190 pediatric patients with chordomas of the base of skull were treated with PRT or comboRT at the Harvard Cyclotron Laboratory and the MGH Proton Center. We have assembled a clinical database of pediatric patients treated for skull base (n=186) or spinal (n=37) chordomas. This resource exceeds the largest published studies of this disease by nearly an order of magnitude and has enabled novel clinical insights into the disease. Our preliminary analyses show that the location of the tumor, the pathological subtype and pre-RT chemotherapy are prognostic factors for OS and PFS. Overall, high dose PRT following surgical resection was found be an excellent therapeutic option with a high rate of disease control and minimal late toxicity. Building on this clinical foundation, we aim to characterize the radiological features of chordomas, patterns of relapse and post-treatment radiographic changes. We have also established a collaboration with BROAD Institute seeking to pursue translational research using available tissue from these cases in order to gain novel biological insight into this understudied disease.

Location : Virtual Meeting