Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2021 Nov;147(11):3381-3390.
doi: 10.1007/s00432-021-03596-5. Epub 2021 Mar 20.

Patterns of glioblastoma treatment and survival over a 16-years period: pooled data from the German Cancer Registries

Ljupcho Efremov  1   2 , Semaw Ferede Abera  2 , Ahmed Bedir  2 , Dirk Vordermark  2 , Daniel Medenwald  3   4
Affiliations

Patterns of glioblastoma treatment and survival over a 16-years period: pooled data from the German Cancer Registries

Ljupcho Efremov et al. J Cancer Res Clin Oncol. 2021 Nov.

Erratum in

Abstract

Introduction: Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is a primary malignant brain tumour characterized by a very low long-term survival. The aim of this study was to analyse the distribution of treatment modalities and their effect on survival for GBM cases diagnosed in Germany between 1999 and 2014.

Methods: Cases were pooled from the German Cancer Registries with International Classification of Diseases for Oncology, third edition (ICD-O-3) codes for GBM or giant-cell GBM. Three periods, first (January 1999-December 2005), second (January 2006-December 2010) and a third period (January 2011-December 2014) were defined. Kaplan-Meier plots with long-rank test compared median overall survival (OS) between groups. Survival differences were assessed with Cox proportional-hazards models adjusted for available confounders.

Results: In total, 40,138 adult GBM cases were analysed, with a mean age at diagnosis 64.0 ± 12.4 years. GBM was more common in men (57.3%). The median OS was 10.0 (95% CI 9.0-10.0) months. There was an increase in 2-year survival, from 16.6% in the first to 19.3% in the third period. When stratified by age group, period and treatment modalities, there was an improved median OS after 2005 due to treatment advancements. Younger age, female sex, surgical resection, use of radiotherapy and chemotherapy, were independent factors associated with better survival.

Conclusion: The inclusion of temozolomide chemotherapy has considerably improved median OS in the older age groups but had a lesser effect in the younger age group of cases. The analysis showed survival improvements for each treatment option over time.

Keywords: Cancer registry; Glioblastoma; Overall survival; Temozolomide.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors of this study have no conflict of interest to declare.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Kaplan–Meier plot comparing the survival function in the three-time periods
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Kaplan–Meier plots comparing the survival function between periods stratified by age at GBM diagnosis
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Al-Holou WN, Hodges TR, Everson RG, Freeman J, Zhou S, Suki D, Rao G, Ferguson SD, Heimberger AB, McCutcheon IE, Prabhu SS, Lang FF, Weinberg JS, Wildrick DM, Sawaya R (2020) Perilesional resection of glioblastoma is independently associated with improved outcomes. Neurosurgery 86(1):112–121. 10.1093/neuros/nyz008 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Aly A, Singh P, Korytowsky B, Ling Y-L, Kale HP, Dastani HB, Botteman MF, Norden AD (2019) Survival, costs, and health care resource use by line of therapy in US Medicare patients with newly diagnosed glioblastoma: a retrospective observational study. Neuro-Oncology Practice. 10.1093/nop/npz042 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Bent MJVD, Erridge S, Vogelbaum MA, Nowak AK, Sanson M, Brandes AA, Wick W, Clement PM, Baurain J-F, Mason WP, Wheeler H, Weller M, Aldape KD, Wesseling P, Kros JM, Tesileanu M, Golfinopoulos V, Gorlia T, Baumert BG, French P (2019) Second interim and first molecular analysis of the EORTC randomized phase III intergroup CATNON trial on concurrent and adjuvant temozolomide in anaplastic glioma without 1p/19q codeletion. J Clin Oncol 37(15_suppl):2000. 10.1200/JCO.2019.37.15_suppl.2000 - DOI
    1. Brandes AA, Franceschi E, Tosoni A, Benevento F, Scopece L, Mazzocchi V, Bacci A, Agati R, Calbucci F, Ermani M (2009) Temozolomide concomitant and adjuvant to radiotherapy in elderly patients with glioblastoma: correlation with MGMT promoter methylation status. Cancer 115(15):3512–3518. 10.1002/cncr.24406 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Bray F, Parkin DM (2009) Evaluation of data quality in the cancer registry: principles and methods. Part I: comparability, validity and timeliness. Eur J Cancer 45(5):747–755. 10.1016/j.ejca.2008.11.032 - DOI - PubMed

MeSH terms

Substances

LinkOut - more resources