Pseudoprogression successfully treated with bevacizumab in a child with spinal pilocytic astrocytoma

Childs Nerv Syst. 2018 Nov;34(11):2305-2308. doi: 10.1007/s00381-018-3841-7. Epub 2018 May 27.

Abstract

Clinical case: We report on a 7-year-old female with spinal pilocytic astrocytoma complicated by pseudoprogression 1 month after completion of radiation therapy. Although she was initially treated with high-dose steroids, her clinical symptoms did not completely resolve, and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) revealed extension of the lesions into the medulla oblongata. Treatment with bevacizumab was commenced, followed by rapid resolution of the clinical symptoms and improvements in the MRI findings.

Conclusion: This case highlights the efficacy and tolerability of bevacizumab for the treatment of pseudoprogression in children with spinal low-grade gliomas.

Keywords: Bevacizumab; Pilocytic astrocytoma; Pseudoprogression; Steroid; Vascular endothelial growth factor.

Publication types

  • Case Reports

MeSH terms

  • Antineoplastic Agents, Immunological / therapeutic use*
  • Astrocytoma / drug therapy*
  • Astrocytoma / pathology*
  • Bevacizumab / therapeutic use*
  • Child
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Spinal Cord Neoplasms / drug therapy*
  • Spinal Cord Neoplasms / pathology*

Substances

  • Antineoplastic Agents, Immunological
  • Bevacizumab