BACKGROUND: Clival chordomas are challenging because of their proximity to critical neurovascular structures. Stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) has been proven effective with minimal adverse effects. OBJECTIVE: To compare the outcomes of histologically confirmed primary clival chordomas in adults who underwent SRS alone (SRS group) vs SRS after fractionated radiotherapy (FRT+SRS group). METHODS: We collected patient data from 10 institutions affiliated with the International Radiosurgery Research Foundation. We evaluated overall survival, tumor control, and freedom from additional treatment (FFAT). RESULTS: Fifty-seven (77%) patients were included in the SRS group and 17 (23%) in the FRT+SRS group. The median radiological follow-up was 48 months (IQR, 24-85) in the SRS group and 36 months (IQR, 25-41) in the FRT+SRS group. During the follow-up, 8 SRS and 2 FRT+SRS patients died ( P = .80). The groups had comparable 10-year overall survival (SRS: 76% vs FRT+SRS: 80%; logrank test, P = .75) and tumor control rates (SRS: 34% vs FRT+SRS: 45%; logrank test, P = .29). The SRS group had a superior 10-year FFAT rate (40%) compared with FRT+SRS (23%; logrank test, P = .02). This finding persisted in the multivariate analysis of the Cox proportional hazards illustrating a 2.40-fold increase in the relative risk of requiring additional treatment among the FRT+SRS group ( P = .04). CONCLUSION: Adjuvant FRT with subsequent boost SRS did not provide superior overall survival or tumor control compared with patients who underwent adjuvant SRS alone. Further studies are required to refine management guidelines among adults with clival chordomas.

Department of Neurological Surgery University of Miami School of Medicine Miami Florida USA

Department of Neurological Surgery University of Pittsburgh Pittsburgh Pennsylvania USA

Department of Neurological Surgery University of Virginia Charlottesville Virginia USA

Department of Neurosurgery Ain Shams University Cairo Egypt

Department of Neurosurgery and Radiotherapy Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research Chandigarh India

Department of Neurosurgery Benha University Benha Egypt

Department of Neurosurgery Cleveland Clinic Cleveland Ohio USA

Department of Neurosurgery Hannover Medical School Hannover Germany

Department of Neurosurgery Koc University School of Medicine Istanbul Turkey

Department of Neurosurgery New York University Langone New York New York USA

Department of Neurosurgery Université de Sherbrooke Centre de recherche du CHUS Sherbrooke Quebec Canada

Department of Radiation and Stereotactic Neurosurgery Na Homolce Hospital Prague Czech Republic

Department of Radiation Oncology National Cancer Institute Cairo University Cairo Egypt

Department of Radiation Oncology New York University Langone New York New York USA

Department of Radiation Oncology University of Virginia Charlottesville Virginia USA

Department of Radiology Dominican Gamma Knife Center and CEDIMAT Santo Domingo Dominican Republic

Gamma Knife Center Cairo Nasser Institute Hospital Cairo Egypt

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