SURVIVAL IN PATIENTS WITH MALIGNANT GLIOMAS OF THE BRAIN

The present retrospective study was designed to analyze factors with prognostic values a) within, and b) significantly associated with, short-term (12months or less) and long-term (more than 24 months) survival times, i n 72 consecutive patients treated for malignant gliomas. Among 41 (57%) short-term surviving patients, the absence of both aphasia and motor deficit (as initial presenting symptoms), postoperative radiation therapy alone or in combination with chemotherapy, and reoperation were associated with a relatively better survival prognosis. Among 15 (20.8%) long-term surviving patients, postoperative radiation therapy and anaplastic, as histological type of astrocytoma, were marginally associated with improved survival time. The addition of conventional chemotherapy to postoperative radiation therapy failed to show a significant improvement in survival time in both survival groups. The long-term survival was significantly associated with the following factors: age (under 51 years), reoperation and the absence of lymphocyte infiltration. A satisfactory quality and duration of survival was achieved in a minority of patients with malignant gliomas. Furthermore, a more appropriate postoperative antitumor therapy may increase the number of these patients, by avoiding fatal injuries to the normal brain tissues induced by postoperative antitumor therapies.