Retrospective Analysis of Epidemiology of Intracranial and Spinal Tumor in North Western Part of India: 5-Year Observational Study of 1315 Cases

TL;DR

This study analyzed 1315 cases of brain and spinal tumors in Jaipur, India, finding astrocytomas and meningiomas as the most common types with notable gender differences.

Contribution

The study provides a detailed epidemiological profile of CNS and spinal tumors in a specific Indian region over five years.

Findings

Astrocytomas were the most common intracranial tumors, with glioblastoma multiforme as the largest subtype.

Meningiomas were the second most common intracranial tumor and the most common spinal tumor.

Males outnumbered females for most CNS tumors, but females had higher rates of meningioma.

Abstract

Introduction

Intracranial tumourstumors arise from the brain or its surrounding tissues. Tumors of the central nervous system (CNS) are estimated to be approximately 2% of all new cancers. In India, they constitute about 1.9% of all tumors. Extramedullary lesions, most commonly benign meningioma, account for 70 to 80% of spinal cord tumors. The objective of this study is to characterize histological subtypes, age and gender distribution, and WHO grading of intracranial and spinal tumors in a tertiary care hospital in Jaipur, Rajasthan, India.

Material and method

A retrospective study was conducted at the Department of Surgical Oncology, Sawai Man Singh (SMS) hospital, Jaipur, Rajasthan, a tertiary care hospital, over a period of 5 years. A total of 1315 cases of CNS and spinal neoplasms were diagnosed during this period.

Results

In this study, a total of 1315 cases of CNS and spinal tumors were found. The majority (1199 cases, 91.2%) of the tumors were intracranial, whereas the remaining 116 (8.82%) cases were spinal. Among intracranial tumors, astrocytomas accounted for the largest share in our study, comprising 398 cases (30.27%), mostly seen after the 3rd decade of life, with a mean age of occurrence of 28.44 years. Glioblastoma multiforme forms the largest subtype, constituting 41.96% of all astrocytoma, mostly seen in the 5th or 6th decade of life. Meningioma constitutes the second major group of tumors involving the CNS. Overall, males outnumbered females, the ratio being 1.66:1. However, meningioma is an exception, which was found with higher rates in females (ratio 1:1.37). Among the spinal neoplasms, meningioma was the most common type in our study.

Conclusion

The most common type of intracranial tumor in the present study was astrocytoma, followed by meningioma. The ratio of male: female for CNS tumors was 1.66:1. However, females outnumbered males in the case of meningioma, with a ratio of 1:1.37. Meningioma was the most common type of spinal neoplasm.