Abstract

Objective: Optic gliomas are histologically benign and well differentiated pilocytic astrocytomas. The histopathologic features of the tumor are important prognostic markers that affect survival rates in association with location, the age of the patient, and neurofibromatosis type-1. Chemotherapy is the most important choice in the treatment and the clinicians’ goal is to stay as far away from radiotherapy as possible. The combination of vincristine and carboplatin, which is a safe and long-lasting safe treatment plan that sets the stage for radiotherapy and surgeon avoidance, is one of the first choice standard treatment approaches. However, in these treatments, refractory disease, imatinib mesylate, a multi-tyrosine kinase inhibitor with a low rate of systemic side effects can be added as an important option. It can be used safely in pediatric patients. Because of small number of studies reported in this area, we wanted to share our good results regarding the use of imatinib mesylate with clinicians.

Material  and  Methods: A total of 16 patients with optic glioma who were diagnosed between 2007-2017 at our oncology clinic were included in the study.

Results: When clinically and radiologically progressive disease was present after two cycles of the vincristine carboplatin combination, imatinib (270 mg/m² oral) treatment was added for 1-2 years until stable disease or regression findings were observed. The median follow-up period of the patients was 7 (5-10) years. There was a complete response in four patients and stable disease findings in two patients. There was no imatinib-related side effect in our patients.

Conclusion: Imatinib acts mainly by inhibiting the expression of PDGFR-α and β from tumor capillary endothelia. We believe that the inclusion of smart target molecules will reduce the need for radiotherapy, which is associated with late side effects in progressive disease. Many molecular targeting agents that may be implemented in the future may enter the treatment of refractory optic gliomas and children can be protected from complications arising from surgery and radiotherapy in this manner.

Keywords: Imatinib mesylate, Optic glioma

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Copyright and license

Copyright © 2019 The Author(s). This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

How to cite

1.
Tanyıldız HG. Imatinib Mesylate-Related Treatment Results in Optic Glioma: Single Center Experience. Turk J Pediatr Dis [Internet]. 2019 Sep. 23 [cited 2025 Aug. 23];13(5):326-9. Available from: https://turkjpediatrdis.org/article/view/568