The treatment of cerebral oligodendrogliomas with particular reference to features indicating malignancy: report of seventy-seven cases.

Oligodendrogliomas are relatively rare tumors that arise from the oligodendrocyte or its precursors. The role of postoperative radiotherapy (RT) in these tumors still remains unclear. Data concerning a study on 77 histologically verified cases of oligodendrogliomas of the brain among a total number of 1884 cases of an intracranial glioma treated at the Hacettepe Medical Centre between 1964 and 1991 were reviewed and analyzed (6.5%). One patient died in the early postoperative period and 8 patients in pediatric age group with an aggressive from of the tumor died within 6 months of treatment. The results suggest that oligodendrogliomas which arise in childhood primarily in the intraventricular region should be considered potentially more malignant than other lesions of this type. Because of this, we believe that postoperative radiotherapy is necessary to prevent the recurrences.