Chondrosarcoma

Abstract

Cranial chondrosarcomas are a heterogeneous group of mesenchymal tumors occurring in the skull base that demonstrate slow progressive growth and local invasion. Combination maximal safe surgical resection coupled with adjuvant radiotherapy has become the main therapeutic strategy. The bulk of the reported evidence regarding radiotherapy has examined proton beam and Gamma Knife treatment modalities. Within the past decade, CyberKnife therapy has emerged as an alternative platform for radiosurgery, offering comparable dosimetric performance to Gamma Knife, while also harboring several operational differences that may offer advantages when dealing with skull base lesions. In this chapter, the authors review the current fund of knowledge regarding the clinical background, presentation, and prognosis of primary cranial chondrosarcomas and the role of radiotherapy in its treatment, with an emphasis on the advantages that CyberKnife may bring to tumor management.