Long-Term Survival in Patients with Malignant Astrocytoma:

Pulsed reduced dose-rate radiotherapy: case report : a novel re-treatment strategy in the management of recurrent glioblastoma multiforme

The initial management of malignant gliomas is multimodality in nature, consisting of surgery, radiation therapy and chemotherapy. However, once progression has occurred, treatment options are limited both in terms of selection and efficacy. We report a case of a 37 year-old male diagnosed with a Grade II astrocytoma initially treated with surgery and external beam radiation therapy consisting of 54 Gy delivered in 1.8 Gy fractions that subsequently progressed to a Grade IV astrocytoma. This was managed with temozolomide chemotherapy until the patient exhibited further progression. Although the patient had received prior full dose radiotherapy, he was re-treated with external beam radiotherapy delivered at a substantially reduced dose-rate. This reduction in dose-rate is obtained by delivering treatment in a series of 0.2 Gy pulses separated by 3 min time intervals, creating an apparent dose rate of 0.0667 Gy/min. The region of recurrence was treated to a dose of 50 Gy delivered using 25 daily fractions of 2.0 Gy. The patient had both a radiographic response and clinical improvement following re-irradiation using pulsed reduced dose-rate radiotherapy with no apparent acute or late neurologic toxicities at a time when other treatment options were not available. Despite delivering 104 Gy to the tumor bed and the surrounding brain parenchyma, at no time was there radiographic evidence of radiation-induced normal tissue necrosis. The radiobiologic basis for the use of pulsed reduced dose-rate external beam radiotherapy in the management of recurrent glioma patients is discussed.

[Outcome of surgical treatment of malignant astrocytoma of the brain]

BACKGROUND

The aim of this study was to analyze the outcome after the surgical treatment of patients with malignant brain astrocytomas, as well as the factors influencing the outcome. Retrospective study was performed on 145 operated patients (102 with glioblastoma multiforme, and 43 with anaplastic astrocytomas).

METHODS

Clinical state was graded according to the Yasargil scale (grades I-IV) and the Karnofski score, and the outcome was defined either as good (better or unchanged clinical state) or as poor (deteriorated state or death). The outcome was correlated with patients age and preoperative clinical condition, as well as with the localization, extensiveness and the extent of resection of the tumor.

RESULTS

Preoperative clinical state of patients most frequently corresponded to grades II-III (75.9%). Radical resection was done in 48.3%, subtotal in 15.2%, partial in 30.3%, and biopsy was performed in 6.2% of patients, with the total operative mortality of 16.5%, morbidity of 9.7%, and good postoperative outcome in 73.8% of the patients. The incidence of good postoperative outcome did not significantly depend on the tumor location (42.6-78.3%), cortical presentation, the extent of resection (68.2-75.7%), and preoperative clinical state (67.8-81.5%). Good outcome was seen in 82.7% of patients with one, and in 53.8% of patients with three or more infiltrated lobes (p < 0.01). Patients with poor outcome were significantly older in average than the patients with good outcome (58.9 +/- 12.1 and 50.9 +/- 13.4 years of age, respectively; p < 0.05). Operative mortality was 7.4%, and 27.3% for clinical grades II and IV (p < 0.05), namely 11% and 23.8% for the patients with the Karnofski score above and under 50 (p < 0.05), respectively.

CONCLUSION

The outcome after the operative treatment of malignant cerebral astrocytomas significantly depended on patients age and the extensity of the tumor. For such patients operative mortality was also significantly influenced by clinical preoperative state.