Objective: To study the pathologic characteristics and prognosis in different subtypes of adult medulloblastoma (MB).
Methods: The clinical information, imaging findings and pathologic characteristics of 151 cases of adult medulloblastomas were retrospectively reviewed and analyzed by chi-square test. The survival data were assessed using the Kaplan-Meier method.
Results: Amongst the 151 MB cases studied, there were 73 cases of classic MB, 36 cases of desmoplastic/nodular MB, 39 cases of anaplastic MB and 3 cases of large cell MB. The primary tumors were more frequently located in cerebral hemisphere in desmoplastic/nodular MB than in other subtypes (P=0.000).On the other hand, large cell/anaplastic MB were associated with more frequently local recurrence and distant metastasis (P=0.003). The post-operative overall survival time ranged from 6 to 150 months, with median survival being (103.3±5.7) months (95%CI, 92.52 to 115.09). The median survival of classic MB, desmoplastic/nodular MB and large cell/anaplastic MB was (110.7±7.8) months, (125.5±7.6) months and (57.6±7.6) months, respectively. The differences were statistically significant (P=0.000).
Conclusions: The three variants of MB show different biologic behavior. Large cell/anaplastic MB represents an independent poor prognostic indicator in adults.