Prognostic Factors and Treatment Impact on Overall Survival in Adult Craniopharyngioma

-OBJECTIVE: To examine the demographics, tumor char-acteristics, treatments, and clinical outcomes of a large adult craniopharyngioma population.-METHODS: The 2004-2018 National Cancer Database was queried to investigate adult patients with cranio-pharyngioma. Univariable and multivariable Cox hazard ratio analysis was conducted to analyze the overall sur-vival (OS) impact of demographic and clinical variables.-RESULTS: A total of 666 adult patients with craniophar-yngioma were identified with a mean age of 51 years (standard deviation 16 years). On multivariable analysis, independent of demographic and clinical variables, increased age, uninsured status, Medicaid, Medicare, Charlson-Deyo Comorbidity Index of 2, and tumor size greater than 40 mm were independently associated with worse OS. There was no significant difference in survival between histologic subtypes. Gross total resection (GTR) (hazard ratio [HR] 0.602, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.384- 0.942, P = 0.026) and subtotal resection (STR) with adju-vant radiotherapy (HR 0.316, 95% CI 0.140-0.710, P = 0.005) were independently associated with improved OS. GTR with radiotherapy trended towards improved OS (HR 0.601, 95% CI 0.334-1.083, P =0.090), but STR alone and radio-therapy alone demonstrated no significant difference in survival compared with no treatment on multivariable analysis. Kaplan -Meier survival models demonstrated improved survival with GTR, GTR + radiation therapy, and STR + radiation therapy. Patients undergoing endoscopic resection had significantly lower GTR rates and greater rates of adjuvant radiotherapy compared with open ap-proaches but no difference in OS.-CONCLUSION: Adult patients with craniopharyngioma who underwent GTR or STR with adjuvant radiotherapy had significantly improved overall survival. Endoscopic ap-proaches had lower rates of GTR but no difference in OS.