Management of Patients with High-grade Glioma

The scientific basis for the surgical management of patients with glioma is rapidly evolving. The infiltrative nature of these cancers precludes a surgical cure, but despite this, cytoreductive surgery remains central to high-quality patient’s care. In addition to tissue sampling for accurate histopathological diagnosis and molecular genetic characterisation, clinical benefit from decompression of space-occupying lesions and microsurgical cytoreduction has been reported in patients with different grades of glioma. By integrating advanced surgical techniques with molecular genetic characterisation of the disease and targeted radiotherapy and chemotherapy, it is possible to construct a programme of personalised surgical therapy throughout the patient’s journey. The goal of therapeutic packages tailored to each patient is to optimise patient safety and clinical outcome, and must be delivered in a multidisciplinary setting. Here we review the current concepts that underlie surgical management of patients with high-grade glioma.