Results of radiation therapy for intracranial malignant lymphoma

Survival and prognostic factors were retrospectively analyzed in 10 patients with primary intracranial lymphoma and 7 patients with secondary intracranial lymphoma from 1983 to 1994 at Kagoshima University Hospital and affiliated hospitals. The 1-year survival rate was 62.5% in primary cases and 35.7% in secondary cases. In primary cases, there were no significant differences in survival between surgically treated and non-surgically treated cases, or between multiple-lesion and solitary-lesion cases. In secondary cases with a solitary lesion, excluding one case of Hodgkin's lymphoma, survival was better in cases treated within 3 months after the appearance of neurologic symptoms than in cases treated over 3 months after the appearance of symptoms. There was no significant difference in survival between cases treated with whole-brain irradiation of 40 Gy or more and those treated with less than 40 Gy. The results suggest that intracranial involvement of an extracranial malignant lymphoma should be diagnosed and treated as early as possible. (author)