Treatment of Craniopharyngioma in Children Under 18 Years
Clinical Scenario
This protocol applies to pediatric patients (age under 18 years) diagnosed with craniopharyngioma. Craniopharyngioma has a bimodal age distribution, with a first incidence peak occurring in children — typically between ages 5 and 10 — making the pediatric population a primary focus of management guidelines for this condition.
Treatment Approach
The established approach in children combines conservative or subtotal surgical resection with complementary normofractionated conformal radiotherapy using intensity modulation. Both photon-based and proton-based irradiation techniques are considered within this framework, with proton therapy recognised as an option particularly suited to the pediatric setting.
The complete protocol — including sequencing, technique selection criteria, and additional management details — is available via the structured regimen below.
References
DOI: 10.1016/j.ando.2024.07.002
- The age distribution of CP is bimodal, with a first peak in incidence observed in children (between the ages of 5 and 10), and a second peak in adults (between the ages of 55 and 69).
- Normofractionated conformal radiotherapy (with recommended intensity modulation using photons or proton beams) is the gold standard for the treatment of CP in children and adults.
- Combination of subtotal resection of the craniopharyngioma followed by complementary normofractionated radiotherapy can achieve similar local control, while reducing the surgical morbidity of maximalist surgery (strong).
- Doses delivered to the PTV range from 50.4 to 54 Gy with conventional fractionation.
- Proton therapy is an effective radiotherapy irradiation technique for the treatment of craniopharyngioma, optimizing the protection of healthy tissue compared with photons. It is proposed as an alternative to photon radiotherapy in pediatrics (weak).
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