Treatment of Residual and Recurrent Meningiomas

Abstract

  Meningiomas are one of the most frequent intracranial tumors and are basically treated with the surgical excision. But precisely how to treat residual and recurrent meningiomas remains a controversial point in several aspects such as repeated surgical excision and additional radiotherapy. Recent clinical studies have shown a significant relation between extent of tumor removal and recurrence-free survival and overall survival in all pathological grades of meningiomas. On the other hand, excessive removal of the tumor often caused unintended neurological deficits to the patients, which consequently exhausts additional treatment options. As a non-surgical option, radiotherapy apparently extended recurrence-free survival time in cases with WHO gradeⅠmeningiomas. But there are few reports suggesting the effectiveness of radiotherapy to extension of overall survival in all subtypes of meningioma. In this article, optimal treatment to residual and recurrent meningiomas is discussed based on clinical reviews and our experiences especially focusing on the extent of tumor removal and radiotherapy.