Successful management of extracranial metastases from cerebral high-grade oligodendroglioma: report of a case with literature review.

The prognosis of high-grade oligodendroglioma has been reported poor with an average survival of approximately 17 months. Local recurrence after surgery is seen in about 50% of the patients, but distant extracranial metastases have been described rarely. Frequent extracranial metastases have been reported in the lungs, pleura, lymph nodes, bones, liver, adrenal glands, kidneys and other sites. We present a case of 16-year-old girl with high-grade oligodendroglioma who developed bilateral pulmonary metastases 19 months following complete resection of the primary brain tumor. She did not respond to first-line chemotherapy; however, the patient achieved an almost complete response with cisplatin (CDDP) and etoposide (VP-16) salvage chemotherapy. She remains well and asymptomatic 18 months after the end of chemotherapy. We herein review the literature and discuss all the possible mechanisms for extracranial dissemination of primary brain tumours.