Exploration of Medicine

Table 1. Study parameters, levels of evidence (LOE), and patient demographics.

Study	Method	LOE	Country	Study range	Number of patients (M/F)	Age range^# (average)
Allen et al., 2009 [12]	Prospective trial	III	USA	NR	124 (80/44)	3–20 (7.8)
Ashley et al., 2012 [13]	Prospective trial	III	USA	Oct 2000–Jun 2006	74 (40/34)	0.6–3 (NR)
Carrie et al., 2009 [14]	Prospective trial	III	France	Dec 1998–Oct 2001	55 (NR)	5–18 (9.9)
Christopherson et al., 2014 [15]	Prospective single-institutional trial	III	USA	1963–2008	53 (38/15)	1.2–18.5 (7.1)
Dufour et al., 2021 [16]	Prospective multi-institutional trial	III	France	Jan 2009–Feb 2021	51 (34/17)	5–19 (8)
Gajjar et al., 2006 [5]	Prospective non-randomized trial	III	USA	Oct 1996–Aug 2003	134 (90/44) SR: 86 (53/33) HR: 48 (37/11)	3–21 (7.6) SR: 3.1–20.2 (8.7) HR: 3.1–17 (6.6)
Gupta et al., 2022 [17]	Prospective trial	III	India	Aug 2006–Feb 2010	20 (14/6)	5–14 (8)
Jakacki et al., 2012 [18]	Prospective non-randomized trial	III	USA	Mar 1998–Nov 2004	161 (92/69)	3.1–21.6 (8.7)
Lannering et al., 2012 [19]	Prospective randomized trial	II	Germany*	Jan 2001–Dec 2006	338 (211/127)	4–21 (NR)
Lee et al., 2020 [20]	Prospective trial	III	Korea	Oct 2005–Apr 2018	40 (23/17)	3.8–31.5 (8.5)
Massimino et al., 2012 [21]	Prospective trial	III	Italy	1986–1995	73 (38/35)	3–21 (9.5)
Merchant et al., 2008 [8]	Prospective multi-institutional trial	III	USA	Oct 1996–Aug 2003	86 (53/33)	3–21 (8.7)
Michalski et al., 2021 [7]	Prospective randomized trial	II	USA	Apr 2004–Jan 2014	464 (301/163) IFRT: 227 (150/77) PFRT: 237 (151/86) LDCSI: 116 (84/32) SDCSI: 110 (70/40)	IFRT vs. PFRT: 3–21.8 (8.1) SDCSI vs. LDCSI: 3–8 (5.7)
Okada et al., 2020 [22]	Prospective trial	III	Japan	2006–2014	48 (37/11) SR: 35 (26/9) HR: 13 (11/2)	3–18 (NR) SR: 7.6 (NR) HR: 6.6 (NR)
Packer et al., 1994 [23]	Prospective multi-institutional trial	III	USA	1983–1993	63 (41/22) SDCSI: 57 (NR) LDCSI: 6 (NR)	1.5–21 (9)
Packer et al., 2006 [24]	Prospective randomized multi-institutional trial	II	USA	Dec 1996–Dec 2000	379 (193/186)	3–21 (NR)
Pezzotta et al., 1996 [25]	Prospective non-randomized trial	III	Italy	Jul 1985–Dec 1989	38 (20/18) SR: 11 (NR) HR: 27 (NR)	0.6–14 (7.8)
Rieken et al., 2011 [26]	Retrospective single institutional chart review	IV	Germany	1985–2009	66 (36/30) RCT: 47 (NR) RT: 19 (NR)	2–60 (11)
Rutkowski et al., 2009 [27]	Prospective multi-institutional trial comparison	III	Germany	Aug 1987–Jul 1993	72 (44/28) HIT-SKK’87: 29 LR: 14 HR: 15 HIT-SKK’92: 43	0.2–2.9 (1.8)
Sirachainan et al., 2018 [28]	Prospective trial	III	Thailand	2008–2013	23 (17/6)	3.8–24.2 (9)
Sung et al., 2013 [29]	Prospective trial	III	Korea	Oct 2005–Sep 2010	20 (14/6)	1.9–21.4 (6.7)
Tian et al., 2020 [30]	Retrospective single institutional chart review	IV	USA	Aug 1990–Feb 2015	32 (25/7) PF: 22 (17/5) TB: 10 (8/2)	3–10 (5.5)
Wahba et al., 2013 [31]	Prospective trial	III	Egypt	Jan 2005–Dec 2008	33 (21/12)	0.5–20.4 (6.1)
Yasuda et al., 2008 [32]	Prospective non-randomized trial	III	Japan	NR	16 (8/8)	3–21 (NR)

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HIT-SKK’87 and ’92: (Brain Tumor Radiotherapy for Infants and Toddlers with Medulloblastoma) 1987 and 1992; HR: high risk; IFRT: involved field radiation therapy; LDCSI: low-dose craniospinal irradiation; LR: low risk; M/F: male/female; NR: not reported; RCT: radiochemotherapy; RT: radiation therapy; SDCSI: standard-dose craniospinal irradiation; SR: standard risk. *: Study included multiple countries within Europe, including Austria, Switzerland, France, Italy, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Spain, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom. ^#: Age listed in years.

Supplementary materials

The supplementary table for this article is available at: https://www.explorationpub.com/uploads/Article/file/1001366_sup_1.pdf.

Declarations

Acknowledgments

We would like to extend our deepest gratitude to Daniel Razick, BS, and the Student Research Committee (SRC) at College of Medicine, California Northstate University, for their assistance and guidance. This manuscript’s abstract was presented, in part, at The 20th Annual Academic Surgical Congress (ASC) in Las Vegas, Nevada, on February 11–13th, 2025. 87.02 Reduced-dose Radiation with Chemotherapy for Medulloblastoma: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Academic Surgical Congress Abstracts Archive. May 12, 2025. Accessed September 6, 2025. The Academic Surgical Congress maintains searchable and filterable abstract archives at https://www.asc-abstracts.org/abs2025/87-02-reduced-dose-radiation-with-chemotherapy-for-medulloblastoma-a-systematic-review-and-meta-analysis/.

Author contributions

IH: Conceptualization, Data curation, Formal analysis, Methodology, Investigation, Visualization, Writing—original draft, Writing—review & editing. MG: Data curation, Investigation, Methodology, Writing—original draft, Writing—review & editing. MB: Investigation, Methodology, Writing—original draft, Writing—review & editing. ET: Conceptualization, Investigation, Methodology, Project administration, Resources, Writing—review & editing. EF: Methodology, Project administration, Resources, Validation, Writing—review & editing. All authors read and approved the submitted version.

Conflicts of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.

Ethical approval

Not applicable.

Consent to participate

Not applicable.

Consent to publication

Not applicable.

Availability of data and materials

The primary data for this systematic review were sourced online from databases listed in the methods. Referenced articles are accessible on the database. Additional supporting data are available from the corresponding author upon request.

Funding

Not applicable.

Copyright

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Open Exploration maintains a neutral stance on jurisdictional claims in published institutional affiliations and maps. All opinions expressed in this article are the personal views of the author(s) and do not represent the stance of the editorial team or the publisher.

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