Spinal cord ependymomas and the appearance of other de novo tumors: a systematic review.

Abstract

INTRODUCTION:

Ependymomas are rare glial tumors of the brain representing less than 5% of brain tumors. However, spinal cord ependymomas in adults account for over 60% of all ependymomas including those arising from the filum terminale and only 40% are intracranial. Reports of the appearance of another neoplasia at a different location in patients with spinal ependymoma are scarce.

METHODS:

We searched PubMed for studies related to spinal cord ependymomas published over the last 30 years (from January 1984) and retrieved 1197.

RESULTS:

We identified only two studies that met our criteria and we found an incidence of 9% of secondary neoplasias after treatment for spinal ependymoma. The neoplasms were diagnosed from 2 months to 20 years after patients underwent surgery for intraspinal ependymoma. These included pancreatic cancer, prostate cancer, Hodgkin lymphoma, intracranial meningioma, mucin-producing pulmonary adenocarcinoma, gastric cancer and astrocytoma.

CONCLUSIONS:

The genetic abnormalities affecting patients with spinal ependymomas may indicate a predisposition to the development of secondary cancers or a general failure of the repairing mechanism in their DNA. The unaffected survival rates in those individuals permit for a long period the accumulation of different mutations on the genome and thus the appearance of a second cancer. However, more studies are needed, particularly in young patients with high survival rates.

• Authors: George Fotakopoulos, Konstantinos Vagkopoulos, Charalabos Gatos, Polikceni Kotlia, Alexandros Brotis
• Journal: Journal of medical case reports (J Med Case Rep) Vol. 8 Pg. 438 (Dec 18 2014) ISSN: 1752-1947 [Electronic] England
• PMID: 25519213 (Publication Type: Journal Article, Review, Systematic Review)

Topics

• Ependymoma
• Humans
• Spinal Cord Neoplasms