J Neurol Surg B Skull Base 2014; 75 - p037
DOI: 10.1055/s-0034-1384186

Helical Tomotherapy for Skull Base Tumors: A Preliminary Report

Wan-Soo Yoon 1, D. S. Chung 1
  • 1Incheon St. Mary's Hospital, The Catholic University of Korea, South Korea

Objective: Skull base tumors are challenging lesions for neurosurgeons, but these are not always possible to be removed by surgical resection. We present our experience of tomotherapy for skull base tumors when the tumors are not accessible by the operation or recurred after the operation. Material and Methods: From December 2005 to October 2010, 60 patients underwent tomotherpy for brain tumors. Among them, skull base tumors presented in 12 patients; 4patients presented with petroclival meningiomas, 2patients with foramen magnum meningiomas, 2patients with sphenoid meningioma, 1patient with jugular foramen meningioma, 1patient with tuberculum sellae meningioma, and 2patients with acoustic schwannomas. Results: All the tumors showed stable state after tomotherapy. Ten skull base tumors (83%) showed a same size and two lesions (17%) showed a decreased size compared with initial tumor size. All patients did not show a radiation-induced complication. Conclusion: Tomotherapy is a useful treatment modality for skull base tumors when a surgical accessible is not possible. Also, tomotherapy is well tolerable to the patients with skull base tumors.