Table 1.
Clinical characteristics of pediatric high-grade glioma patients with thalamic, pontine, and supratentorial tumors
| Characteristic | Thalamic high-grade gliomas | Pontine gliomas | Supratentorial high-grade gliomas |
|---|---|---|---|
| No. of pediatric patients | 99 | 234 | 177 |
| Age at diagnosis, years | |||
| Median | 11.5 | 8.0 | 11.7 |
| Mean | 10.8 | 8.6 | 10.7 |
| Range | 0–17.7 | 1.3–17.9 | 0–17.9 |
| <11 years | 47 (47.5) | 170 (72.6) | 81 (45.8) |
| ≥11 years | 52 (52.5) | 64 (27.4) | 96 (54.2) |
| Sex | |||
| Female | 45 (45.5) | 104 (44.4) | 76 (42.9) |
| Male | 54 (54.5) | 130 (55.6) | 101 (57.1) |
| Histological tumor grading | |||
| WHO II | NA | 9 (8.8) | NA |
| WHO III | 67 (67.7) | 55 (53.9) | 64 (36.2) |
| WHO IV | 32 (32.3) | 38 (37.3) | 113 (63.8) |
| No histology | NA | 132 (56.4% of total)a | NA |
| Histological diagnosis | |||
| Astrocytoma II | NA | 9 (8.8) | NA |
| Anaplastic ganglioglioma III | 0 | 1 (1) | 4 (2.3) |
| Pleomorphic xanthoastrocytoma with anaplasia | 0 | 0 | 4 (2.3) |
| Anaplastic pilocytic astrocytoma III | 3 (3) | 0 | 7 (4) |
| Anaplastic oligodendroglioma/oligoastrocytoma III | 3 (3) | 0 | 8 (4.5) |
| Anaplastic astrocytoma III | 61 (61.6) | 54 (52.9) | 41 (23.1) |
| Gliosarcoma IV | 1 (1) | 0 | 4 (2.3) |
| Giant cell glioblastoma IV | 1 (1) | 1 (1) | 14 (7.8) |
| Glioblastoma multiforme IV | 30 (30.3) | 37 (36.3) | 95 (53.7) |
| No histology | NA | 132 (56.4% of total)a | NA |
| Secondary high-grade glioma | |||
| Yes | 5 (5.6) | 2 (0.9) | 13 (7.9) |
| No | 84 (94.4) | 211 (99.1) | 151 (92.1) |
| Unknown | 5 (5.1% of total)a | 21 (9% of total)a | 13 (7.3% of total)a |
| Tumor-predisposing syndromes | |||
| Yes | 2 (2.1) | 2 (0.9) | 7 (4.1) |
| No | 95 (97.9) | 226 (99.1) | 164 (95.9) |
| Unknown | 2 (2% of total)a | 6 (2.6% of total)a | 6 (3.4% of total)a |
| Syndrome | NF1 (n = 2) | NF1 (n = 1) | NF1 (n = 5) |
| Li Fraumeni (n = 1) | Li Fraumeni (n = 1) | ||
| Turcot (n = 1) | |||
| Primary metastases | |||
| Yes | 6 (6.4) | 3 (1.4) | 13 (7.7) |
| No | 88(93.6) | 217 (98.6) | 155 (92.3) |
| Unknown | 5 (5.1% of total)a | 14 (6% of total)a | 9 (5.1 of total)a |
Data are no. (%) of patients, unless otherwise indicated. NA indicates not applicable; NF1 indicates neurofibromatosis type 1; WHO indicates World Health Organization.
aEach percentage of unknown data sets always refers for comparison reasons to the total patient numbers of each group (100%).