# Age and DNA methylation subgroup as potential independent risk factors for treatment stratification in children with atypical teratoid/rhabdoid tumors

Source: https://onco.cc/key-papers/paper-fruhwald-neuro-oncol/  
OnCo record `paper-fruhwald-neuro-oncol` (Key paper). Data CC BY-NC 4.0, attribute "Data from OnCo (onco.cc)"; commercial use needs a licence.

## TL;DR

Paper cited by one cancer page, indexed on Europe PMC as PubMed record 31883020 and published in Neuro-Oncology; the citing page links this DOI, which is how the record was matched.

## Summary

Background: Controversy exists as to what may be defined as standard of care (including markers for stratification) for patients with atypical teratoid/rhabdoid tumors (ATRTs). The European Rhabdoid Registry (EU-RHAB) recruits uniformly treated patients and offers standardized genetic and DNA methylation analyses.

Methods: Clinical, genetic, and treatment data of 143 patients from 13 European countries were analyzed (2009-2017). Therapy consisted of surgery, anthracycline-based induction, and either radiotherapy or high dose chemotherapy following a consensus among European experts. Fluorescence in situ hybridization, multiplex ligation-dependent probe amplification, and sequencing were employed for assessment of somatic and germline mutations in SWItch/sucrose nonfermentable related, matrix associated, actin dependent regulator of chromatin, subfamily B (SMARCB1). Molecular subgroups (ATRT-SHH, ATRT-TYR, and ATRT-MYC) were determined using DNA methylation arrays, resulting in profiles of 84 tumors.

Results: Median age at diagnosis of 67 girls and 76 boys was 29.5 months. Five-year overall survival (OS) and event-free survival (EFS) were 34.7 ± 4.5% and 30.5 ± 4.2%, respectively. Tumors displayed allelic partial/whole gene deletions (66%; 122/186 alleles) or single nucleotide variants (34%; 64/186 alleles) of SMARCB1. Germline mutations were detected in 26% of ATRTs (30/117). The patient cohort consisted of 47% ATRT-SHH (39/84), 33% ATRT-TYR (28/84), and 20% ATRT-MYC (17/84). Age <1 year, non-TYR signature (ATRT-SHH or -MYC), metastatic or synchronous tumors, germline mutation, incomplete remission, and omission of radiotherapy were negative prognostic factors in univariate analyses (P < 0.05). An adjusted multivariate model identified age <1 year and a non-TYR signature as independent negative predictors of OS: high risk (<1 y + non-TYR; 5-y OS = 0%), intermediate risk (<1 y + ATRT-TYR or ≥1 y + non-TYR; 5-y OS = 32.5 ± 8.7%), and standard risk (≥1 y + ATRT-TYR, 5-y OS = 71.5 ± 12.2%).

Conclusions: Age and molecular subgroup status are independent risk factors for survival in children with ATRT. Our model warrants validation within future clinical trials.

Indexed on Europe PMC as PubMed record 31883020 (DOI 10.1093/neuonc/noz244). Matched by DOI alone: one cancer page cites this DOI among its external links (the pages are listed under Related), and this page was written so that the citation resolves inside OnCo. No figure has been checked by an editor.

## Fields

- Kind: Key paper
- Last checked: 2026-09-22
- Tags: europepmc-ingest
- Journal: Neuro-Oncology
- Year: 2020
- DOI: 10.1093/neuonc/noz244
- Authors: Frühwald MC, Hasselblatt M, Nemes K, et al.
- What it means: One cancer page on OnCo cites this paper by its DOI; this record gives the citation a page of its own so a reader can follow it without leaving OnCo. Read the abstract above alongside the citing page listed under Related; the record was created automatically from the Europe PMC entry and its figures have not been checked by hand.
- Caveats: Matched to the citing OnCo records by DOI alone; the summary reproduces the Europe PMC abstract and no figure has been verified against the full paper.

## Sources

- Neuro Oncol 2020: https://doi.org/10.1093/neuonc/noz244
- PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31883020/
- Europe PMC: https://europepmc.org/article/MED/31883020

## Connected records

- cancers: [Atypical teratoid/rhabdoid tumour (ATRT)](https://onco.cc/cancers/atrt/)
- journals: [Neuro-Oncology](https://onco.cc/journals/neuro-oncology/)

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