A Phase II Trial of Intensity-Modulated Proton Therapy for Incompletely Resected Craniopharyngioma and Observation for Craniopharyngioma After Radical Resection

PFS is defined as the interval of time from the initiation of radiation therapy (RT) until the earliest of the events: death from any cause; and disease progression.

OS is defined as the interval of time from the initiation of RT until the death from any cause.

The cumulative incidence estimates of first cystic intervention for cystic fluctuations after proton therapy. Competing events are death, disease progression and development of a new or secondary tumor.

Kaplan-Meier estimates will be provided of EFS, which is measured from initiation of proton therapy until the earliest of PFS failure or secondary malignancy or new tumor, or surgical intervention for cystic fluctuation. Patients who have not experienced an event will be censored at their last date of contact.

Final analyses will also compare survival distributions using the log-rank test for patients treated with limited surgery and proton therapy on this protocol with the updated SJCRH cohort of patients treated with limited surgery and photon irradiation. The definition of survival will be defined in same way for both cohorts. This secondary analysis will be stratified by whether or not patients have a cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) shunt in place prior to irradiation and race (black versus white).

To estimate the survival distributions for children and young adults with craniopharyngioma treated only with primary surgical resection and to compare these distributions with the distributions observed for patients treated with limited surgery and proton therapy. A stratified log-rank test will be used to compare the distributions for children and young adults with craniopharyngioma treated only with primary surgical resection and the distributions observed for patients treated with limited surgery and proton therapy.

Vision status will be classified into three groups (None, Impaired, Severe). Information recorded in the clinical neurology form will also be used, as will the ophthalmology data sheet and NCI CTCAE v4.0 when relevant. The distribution of outcomes is ordinal categorical and percentages will be estimated. Mixed-effects Proportional Odds Regression will be used to estimate the change of vision over time, and compare severity of vision in the two treatment groups adjusted by confound factors.

Hearing will be categorized as normal if all thresholds are within 0-20 decibels hearing level (dB HL) and otherwise abnormal. Generalized Estimating Equations (GEE) with logistic link will be used to explore the trend over time and investigate impacts of specific clinical and treatment factors on hearing loss. In the presence of missing data, Weighted GEE will be employed to address missingness. In addition, the cumulative incidence of hearing loss will be estimated with death as a competing risk.

The incidence and severity of neurological deficits in children and young adults with craniopharyngioma treated with radical surgery or limited surgery and proton therapy. Descriptively compare findings for patients treated with proton therapy with the reported findings for the updated SJCRH cohort treated using photons.

The incidence and severity of endocrine deficits in children and young adults with craniopharyngioma treated with radical surgery or limited surgery and proton therapy. Descriptively compare findings for patients treated with proton therapy with the reported findings for the updated SJCRH cohort treated using photons.

The incidence and severity of cognitive deficits in children and young adults with craniopharyngioma treated with radical surgery or limited surgery and proton therapy. Descriptively compare findings for patients treated with proton therapy with the reported findings for the updated SJCRH cohort treated using photons.

Analysis will be stratified by treatment arms (radical surgery vs. limited surgery and proton therapy), descriptive statistics of the longitudinal assessments of quality of life will be described. Specifically, on a yearly basis starting from the pre-treatment time point to year 5 post treatment initiation, quality of life in patients ≥ 2 years of age as measured by the Peds QoL v4 and the Peds QoL brain tumor module will be reported. On a more frequent basis (every 3 months in the first year after treatment initiation and every 6 months afterwards), sleep complaints in patients ≥ 8 years of age as measured Epworth Sleepiness Scale will be reported and fatigue in patients ≥ 2 years of age as measured by The Peds QL Multidimensional Fatigue scale will be reported. Sleep disorders at diagnosis and 3 years after the initiation of treatment will be measured by overnight polysomnography.

Physical performance measures will be obtained at baseline, 6, 12, 24, 36, 48 and 60 months. For the surgery only group, baseline is measured immediately after surgery. For the limited surgery and proton therapy group, the baseline is measured immediately before proton therapy. The baselines in the two groups are measured approximately at the same time so the comparisons between the two groups are reasonable. Descriptive statistics of the outcomes for each group will be provided.

Cumulative incidence of vasculopathy with at least major symptoms (i.e., Vasculopathy grade > 2) will be estimated for the first occurrence of vasculopathy, where death, disease progression, and development of a new or secondary tumor will be considered as completing events. Vasculopathy will be graded 3-5 according to NCI CTCAE v4.0.

Quantitative measures of structural and functional changes in the brain over time will be described using mixed effects models. Associations of functional and structural changes in the brain with cognitive variables will be investigated using mixed effects models which will include demographic, imaging and clinical factors, such as age at diagnoses, gender, race and socioeconomic status, fractional anisotropy (FA), apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC), hydrocephalus and presence of CSF shunt, and pre-proton therapy growth hormone deficiency.

The percentage of patients with PET scans where loss of signal intensity or resolution was observed will be estimated with 95% exact confidence intervals.

The planned analyses based on this data will mainly utilize longitudinal models.

The planned analyses based on this data will mainly utilize longitudinal models.

Descriptive statistics will be provided for known candidate genes and gene mutations. Analysis will be performed using current processes available at the time of analysis.