Pineal teratomas are relatively uncommon intracranial neoplasms. A rhabdomyosarcoma developed in a pineal teratoma in a 14-year-old boy and was rapidly fatal despite radiation therapy. This is the second reported case of a pineal teratoma giving rise to a rhabdomyosarcoma.
Evaluation of radiation therapy for a given neoplasm includes consideration of possible treatment complications as well as potential benefit. A 43-year-old male with a glomus jugulare tumor of the right middle ear had received 4480 rads to the right middle and inner ear and tempo,ral bone. Eight years later, he developed an anaplastic astmcytoma of the right cerebellar hemisphere. At this time a third neoplasm, a left carotid body tumor, was demonstrated angiographically. Although radiation can be implicated in the genesis of the glial neoplasm, the presence of two neural crest derived tumors suggests that a lowered threshold for neoplastic transformation in neuroectodermal cells may have been an additional factor. Long-term follow-up of large numbers of patients with glomus jugulare tumors will be necessary to determine if multiple paragangliomas predispose to radiation-associated gliomas.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.