Importance of radiotherapy in the treatment of vestibular schwannomas

In this retrospective study a patient cohort representative for the illness and the different therapies has been analyzed, with our results being mostly comparable to current literature. Both therapies are shown to have a nearly similar tumor control rate. Differences in their dynamic may be influenced by disparities of pre therapy baseline characteristics. Regarding control rate of symptoms, fractionated radiotherapy is prone to more adversary reactions within the acute phase of radiation due to multifactorial reasons. Both therapies are valuable assets with different strengths and weaknesses. The decision in favor of one of them has to be made in conjunction with the overall constellation, the patients wish and wellbeing, symptoms and tumor characteristics. Larger, longer and prospective studies are necessary for clear guidance.