Multimodal therapy in children and adolescents with newly diagnosed atypical teratoid rhabdoid tumor: individual pooled data analysis and review of the literature

Atypical teratoid rhabdoid tumour (ATRT) is a malignant tumour of the central nervous system with a dismal prognosis. There is no consensus on optimal treatment and different multimodal strategies are currently being used in an attempt to improve outcomes. To evaluate the impact of high-dose chemotherapy followed by autologous stem-cell rescue (HD48 SCR), radiotherapy (RT) at first line, intrathecal chemotherapy (IT) and extent of surgical resection upon recurrence-free survival (RFS) and overall survival (OS). An online database search identified prospective and retrospective studies focused on the treatment of children and adolescents with newly diagnosed ATRT. Clinical, therapeutic and outcome data were extracted and an individual pooled data analysis was conducted. Out of 389 publications, 12 manuscripts were included in our review. Data from 332 patients were analysed. Median age at diagnosis was 37 months (range 1–231). HD-SCR, RT and IT had been administered to 28.6 % (58/203), 49.6 % (118/238) and 21 % (65/310) of the patients, respectively. Gross total resection (GTR) had been achieved in 46.5 % (152/327) of the cases. In the multivariate analysis, hazard ratios (95 % Confidence Interval) for HD-SCR were: RFS-HR = 0.570 (0.357–0.910) p = 0.019, and OS-HR = 0.388 (0.214–0.704) p = 0.002; and for RT: RFS-HR = 0.551 (0.351–0.866) p = 0.01, and OS-HR = 0.393 (0.216–0.712) p = 0.002. IT and GTR were not significantly associated with improved RFS or OS in the multivariate analysis. In our pooled data review, HD-SCR and RT at first line were associated with improved outcomes in children and adolescents with newly diagnosed ATRT.