Outcome of glioblastoma resection in patients 80 years of age and older

Prognostic value of surgical resection over biopsy in elderly patients with glioblastoma: a meta-analysis

PURPOSE

Maximal-safe resection has been shown to improve overall survival in elderly patients with glioblastoma in observational studies, however, the only clinical trial comparing resection versus biopsy in elderly patients with surgically-accessible glioblastoma showed no improvements in overall survival. A meta-analysis is needed to assess whether surgical resection of glioblastoma in older patients improves surgical outcomes when compared to biopsy alone.

METHODS

A search was conducted until October 9th, 2023, to identify published studies reporting the clinical outcomes of glioblastoma patients > 65 years undergoing resection or biopsy (PubMed, MEDLINE, EMBASE, and COCHRANE). Primary outcomes were overall survival (OS), progression-free survival (PFS), and complications. We analyzed mean difference (MD) and hazard ratio (HR) for survival outcomes. Postoperative complications were analyzed as a dichotomic categorical variable with risk ratio (RR).

RESULTS

From 784 articles, 20 cohort studies and 1 randomized controlled trial met our inclusion criteria, considering 20,523 patients for analysis. Patients undergoing surgical resection had an overall survival MD of 6.13 months (CI 95%=2.43-9.82, p = < 0.001) with a HR of 0.43 (95% CI = 0.35-0.52, p = < 0.00001). The progression-free survival MD was 2.34 months (95%CI = 0.79-3.89, p = 0.003) with a 0.50 h favoring resection (95%CI = 0.37-0.68, p = < 0.00001). The complication RR was higher in the resection group favoring biopsy (1.49, 95%CI = 1.06-2.10).

CONCLUSIONS

Our meta-analysis suggests that upfront resection is associated with improved overall survival and progression-free survival in elderly patients with newly diagnosed glioblastoma over biopsy. However, postoperative complications are more common with resection. Future clinical trials are essential to provide more robust evaluation in this challenging patient population.

Outcomes and Treatment Algorithm in Glioblastoma Patients 80 Years and Older

OBJECTIVE

The current standard of care for patients with glioblastoma (GBM) is maximal safe resection followed by adjuvant radiation therapy with concurrent temozolomide chemotherapy. Previous studies that identified this treatment regimen focused on younger patients with GBM. The proportion of patients with GBM over the age of 80 years is increasing. We investigate whether elderly patients benefit from the current standard of care with additional maximal safe resection.

METHODS

Clinical, operative, radiographic, demographic, genetic, and outcomes data were retrospectively collected for patients treated for histologically confirmed World Health Organization grade 4 GBM at University of Pittsburgh Medical Center from 2009 to 2020. Only patients 80 years and older were included (n = 123). Statistically significant values were set at P < 0.05.

RESULTS

A univariate Cox proportional hazards analysis of GBM patients aged >80 years identified the use of temozolomide, radiation, Karnofsky Performance Status (KPS) > 70, and methylguanine DNA methyltransferase methylation with increased overall survival (OS). Further multivariate Cox proportional hazards model analysis showed that the variables identified in the univariate analysis passed multicollinearity testing, and that use of temozolomide, KPS >70, and gross total resection were shown to significantly impact survival. Survival analysis showed that patients with biopsy alone had a shorter median OS compared with patients who received resection, temozolomide, and radiation (P < 0.0001, median OS 1.6 vs. 7.5 months). Additionally, patients who underwent biopsy and then received temozolomide and radiation had a shorter median OS when compared with patients who received resection, temozolomide, and radiation (P = 0.0047, median OS 3.6 vs. 7.5 months).

CONCLUSIONS

For elderly patients with KPS >70, GTR followed by radiation and temozolomide is associated with maximum OS.

A Preoperative Scoring System to Predict Function-Based Resection Limitation Due to Insufficient Participation During Awake Surgery

BACKGROUND

Failure in achieving a function-based resection related to the insufficient patient's participation is a drawback of awake surgery.

OBJECTIVE

To assess preoperative parameters predicting the risk of patient insufficient intraoperative cooperation leading to the arrest of the awake resection.

METHODS

Observational, retrospective, multicentric cohort analysis enrolling 384 (experimental dataset) and 100 (external validation dataset) awake surgeries.

RESULTS

In the experimental data set, an insufficient intraoperative cooperation occurred in 20/384 patients (5.2%), leading to awake surgery failure in 3/384 patients (ie, no resection, 0.8%), and precluded the achievement of the function-based resection in 17/384 patients (ie, resection limitation, 4.4%). The insufficient intraoperative cooperation significantly reduced the resection rates (55.0% vs 94.0%, P < .001) and precluded a supratotal resection (0% vs 11.3%, P = .017). Seventy years or older, uncontrolled epileptic seizures, previous oncological treatment, hyperperfusion on MRI, and mass effect on midline were independent predictors of insufficient cooperation during awake surgery ( P < .05). An Awake Surgery Insufficient Cooperation score was then assessed: 96.9% of patients (n = 343/354) with a score ≤2 presented a good intraoperative cooperation, while only 70.0% of patients (n = 21/30) with a score >2 presented a good intraoperative cooperation. In the experimental data set, similar date were found: 98.9% of patients (n = 98/99) with a score ≤2 presented a good cooperation, while 0% of patients (n = 0/1) with a score >2 presented a good cooperation.

CONCLUSION

Function-based resection under awake conditions can be safely performed with a low rate of insufficient patient intraoperative cooperation. The risk can be assessed preoperatively by a careful patient selection.

Meta-analysis of overall survival and postoperative neurologic deficits after resection or biopsy of butterfly glioblastoma

Butterfly glioblastoma (bGBM) is a grade 4 glioma with a poor prognosis. Surgical treatment of these cancers has been reviewed in the literature with some recent studies supporting resection as a safe and effective treatment instead of biopsy and adjuvant therapy. This meta-analysis was designed to determine whether there are significant differences in overall survival (OS) and postoperative neurologic deficits (motor, speech, and cranial nerve) following intervention in patients who underwent tumor resection as part of their treatment, compared to patients who underwent biopsy without surgical resection. A literature search was conducted using PubMed (National Library of Medicine) and Embase (Elsevier) to identify articles from each database's earliest records to May 25, 2021, that directly compared the outcomes of biopsy and resection in bGBM patients and met predetermined inclusion criteria. A meta-analysis was conducted to compare the effects of the two management strategies on OS and postoperative neurologic deficits. Six articles met our study inclusion criteria. OS was found to be significantly longer for the resection group at 6 months (odds ratio [OR] 2.94, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.23-7.05) and 12 months (OR 3.75, 95% CI 1.10-12.76) than for the biopsy group. No statistically significant differences were found in OS at 18 and 24 months. Resection was associated with an increased rate of postoperative neurologic deficit (OR 2.05, 95% CI 1.02-4.09). Resection offers greater OS up to 1 year postintervention than biopsy alone; however, this comes at the cost of higher rates of postoperative neurologic deficits.

Surgical Management of Malignant Glioma in the Elderly

Background

The median age for diagnosis of glioblastoma is 64 years and the incidence rises with increasing age to a peak at 75-84 years. As the total number of high-grade glioma patients is expected to increase with an aging population, neuro-oncological surgery faces new treatment challenges, especially regarding aggressiveness of the surgical approach and extent of resection. In the elderly, aspects like frailty and functional recovery time have to be taken into account before performing surgery.

Material & Methods

Patients undergoing surgery for malignant glioma (WHO grade III and IV) at our institution between 2015 and 2020 were compiled in a centralized tumor database and analyzed retrospectively. Karnofsky Performance Scale (KPS) and Clinical Frailty Scale (CFS) were used to determine functional performance pre- and postoperatively. Overall survival (OS) was compared between age groups of 65-69 years, 70-74 years, 75-79 years, 80-84 years and >85 years in view of extent of resection (EOR). Furthermore, we performed a literature evaluation focusing on surgical treatment of newly diagnosed malignant glioma in the elderly.

Results

We analyzed 121 patients aged 65 years and above (range 65 to 88, mean 74 years). Mean overall survival (OS) was 10.35 months (SD = 11.38). Of all patients, only a minority (22.3%) received tumor biopsy instead of gross total resection (GTR, 61.2%) or subtotal resection (STR, 16.5%). Postoperatively, 52.9% of patients were treated according to the Stupp protocol. OS differed significantly between extent of resection (EOR) groups (4.0 months after biopsy vs. 8.3 after STR vs. 13.8 after GTR, p < 0.05 and p < 0.001 correspondingly). No significant difference was observed regarding EOR across different age groups.

Conclusion

GTR should be the treatment of choice also in elderly patients with malignant glioma as functional outcome and survival after surgery are remarkably better compared to less aggressive treatment. Elderly patients who received GTR of high-grade gliomas survived significantly longer compared to patients who underwent biopsy and STR. Age seems to have little influence on overall survival in selected surgically extensive treated patients, but high preoperative functional performance is mandatory.