Management of Optic Pathway Glioma: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

BACKGROUND: OPG accounts for 3-5% of childhood central nervous system (CNS) tumors and about 2% of pediatric glial lesions. METHODS: Article selection was performed by searching PubMed, Web of Science, and Cochrane databases. RESULTS: The pooled mortality rate was 0.12 (95%CI 0.09-0.14). Due to the unrepresentative data, improved and not changed outcomes were classified as favorable outcomes and worsened as unfavorable. Meta-analyses were performed to determine the rate of clinical and radiological favorable outcomes. In terms of visual assessment, the pooled rate of a favorable outcome in chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and surgery was 0.74, 0.81, and 0.65, respectively, and the overall pooled rate of the favorable outcome was 0.75 (95%CI 0.70-0.80). In terms of radiological assessment, the rate of a favorable outcome following chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and surgery was 0.71, 0.74, and 0.67, respectively, and the overall pooled rate of the favorable outcome is 0.71 (95%CI 0.65-0.77). The subgroup analysis revealed no significant difference in the rate of clinical and radiological favorable outcomes between the different treatment modalities (p > 0.05). CONCLUSION: Our analyses showed that each therapeutic modality represents viable treatment options to achieve remission for these patients.