Astrocytic tumors occasionally arise in the central nervous system following radiotherapy. It is not clear if these gliomas represent a unique molecular genetic subset. We identified nine cases in which an astrocytoma arose within ports of previous radiation therapy , with total doses ranging from 2400 to 5500 cGy. Irradiated primary lesions included craniopharyngioma , pituitary adenoma , Hodgkin's lymphoma, ependymoma , pineal neoplasm , rhabdomyosarcoma , and three cases of lymphoblastic malignancies. Patients ranged from 9 to 60 years of age and developed secondary tumors 5 to 23 years after radiotherapy. The 9 postradiation neoplasms presented as either anaplastic astrocytoma (3 cases) or glioblastoma multiforme (6 cases). Two of the latter contained malignant mesenchymal components. We performed DNA sequence analysis , differential polymerase chain reaction ( Radiation therapy is often administered as an adjuvant in the treatment of incompletely resected tumors of the central nervous system (CNS) and pituitary gland. The brain is also exposed to radiation during the treatment of head and neck tumors and of hematological malignancies involving the central nervous system. A significant but rare long-term complication of CNS radiotherapy is a secondary, presumably radiation-induced, neoplasm.

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