Primary lymphomas of the central nervous system: patterns of failure and factors that influence survival

Primary lymphomas of the CNS are rare tumors accounting for less than 2% of all extranodal non-Hodgkin's lymphomas. The treatment for this disease has been disappointing. Radiation therapy and surgery have produced consistently poor control of this disease, with a median survival of 15 months. A review of ten cases of primary lymphoma of the CNS treated at the Joint Center for Radiation Therapy or Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (Boston) from 1968 to 1981 is presented. All patients had biopsy- proven CNS lymphomas without systemic disease at presentation. In this series, control of CNS lymphoma was seen only in patients receiving craniospinal radiation or CNS-penetrating chemotherapy