Evidence map›Paper›PMID 34409202›Full record

ArticleAdvances in radiation oncology

Effect of Postoperative Radiation Therapy Timing on Survival in Pediatric and Young Adult Ependymoma.

Sunny Shah, Kevin Gates, Chase Mallory, Muni Rubens, Ossama M Maher, Toba N Niazi, Ziad Khatib, Rupesh Kotecha, Minesh P Mehta, Matthew D Hall

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Advances in radiation oncology. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
2citing papers in PubMed
0.4field-weighted citation impact, top 39% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

2 citing papers in PubMed, 4 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Early Initiation of Adjuvant Therapy Following Pediatric Endoscopic Endonasal Surgery for Tumors.World journal of otorhinolaryngology - head and neck surgery · 2026
    Article
  2. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

10 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.

Sunny ShahDepartment of Radiation Oncology, Miami Cancer Institute, Baptist Health South Florida, Miami, Florida.
Kevin GatesDepartment of Radiation Oncology, Miami Cancer Institute, Baptist Health South Florida, Miami, Florida.
Chase MalloryDepartment of Radiation Oncology, Miami Cancer Institute, Baptist Health South Florida, Miami, Florida.
Muni RubensDepartment of Radiation Oncology, Miami Cancer Institute, Baptist Health South Florida, Miami, Florida.
Ossama M MaherDepartment of Pediatric Oncology.
Toba N NiaziDepartment of Pediatric Neurosurgery, Nicklaus Children's Hospital, Miami, Florida.
Ziad KhatibDepartment of Pediatric Oncology.
Rupesh KotechaDepartment of Radiation Oncology, Miami Cancer Institute, Baptist Health South Florida, Miami, Florida.
Minesh P MehtaDepartment of Radiation Oncology, Miami Cancer Institute, Baptist Health South Florida, Miami, Florida.
Matthew D HallDepartment of Radiation Oncology, Miami Cancer Institute, Baptist Health South Florida, Miami, Florida.
Baptist Hospital of Miami · USMiami Children's Hospital · US

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

purposePostoperative radiation therapy (RT) is commonly used for World Health Organization grade II-III intracranial ependymoma. Clinicians generally aim to begin RT ≤5 weeks after surgery, but postoperative recovery and need for second look surgery can delay the initiation of adjuvant therapy. On ACNS 0831, patients were required to enroll ≤8 weeks after initial surgery and begin adjuvant therapy within 3 weeks after enrollment. The purpose of this study was to determine the optimal timing of RT after surgery. METHODS AND MATERIALS: The National Cancer Database was queried for patients (aged 1-39 years) with localized World Health Organization grade II-III intracranial ependymoma treated with surgery and postoperative RT. Overall survival (OS) curves were plotted based on RT timing (≤5 weeks, 5-8 weeks, and >8 weeks after surgery) and were compared by log-rank test. Factors associated with OS were identified by multivariate analysis. After 2009, complete data were available on whether patients underwent gross total resection or subtotal resection. Planned subset analysis was performed to examine the effect of RT timing on OS in patients with known extent of resection.

resultsIn the final analytical data set of 1043 patients, no difference in 3-year OS was observed in patients who initiated RT ≤5 weeks, 5 to 8 weeks, and >8 weeks after surgery (89.8% vs 89.1% vs 88.4%;

conclusionsDelayed postoperative RT was not associated with inferior survival in patients with intracranial ependymoma. Delayed RT initiation may be acceptable in patients who require longer postoperative recovery or referral to an appropriate RT center, but should be minimized whenever practical.

Identifiers

PMID34409202
PMCPMC8360936
OpenAlexW3150198037

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
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Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.