Malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumor in children: A single-institute retrospective analysis

Malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumors are rare tumors that originate from Schwann cells. Patients with neurofibromatosis type 1 are prone to develop these tumors. Due to their rarity and lack of established treatment, the prognosis of malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumors is poor. A retrospective study was conducted on children treated for malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumors at the Seoul National University Children's Hospital between 2007 and 2016. Eleven patients were diagnosed with malignant nerve sheath tumors at a median age of 12 years, eight of whom had neurofibromatosis type 1. All the patients underwent chemotherapy and received surgical resection, and 5 patients relapsed. The 2-year overall survival rate was 72.7%, and the 2-year event-free survival rate was 58.2%. Univariate analysis was performed to assess the correlations between the clinical factors. There was no statistically significant difference in the overall survival rate according to the patients' clinical factors. However, there was a decreasing trend in the relationship between the event-free survival rate and the prevalence of neurofibromatosis type 1. Regular follow up of neurofibromatosis type 1. Regular follow-up of neurofibromatosis type 1 patients may identify detection of early relapse of malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumors. Genetic studies of these patients and tumors may identify opportunities for targeted therapy.