Dorsally exophytic brainstem gliomas are typically amenable to total or near-total resection with a good prognosis after surgical resection alone (8, 26, 59, 60).
Radiation Therapy
- Used for inoperable tumors: Radiation therapy should be reserved for instances of recurrent disease not amenable to surgical re-resection. Treatment primarily consists of conventional fractionated conformal beam radiotherapy with 54 Gy given in daily fractions over 6 weeks (54-56). The use of stereotactic radiation therapy and stereotactic radiosurgery has also been examined in small cohorts (57, 58).
Chemotherapy
- No role defined: No role has been defined for the use of chemotherapy in the treatment of dorsally exophytic brainstem gliomas (8, 49-53).