• Giuseppe Lombardi, Andrea Pace, Francesco Pasqualetti, Simona Rizzato, Marina Faedi, Elena Anghileri, Elisa Nicolotto, Elena Bazzoli, Luisa Bellu, Veronica Villani, Alessandra Fabi, Patrizia Ferrazza, Lorena Gurrieri, Monia Dall'Agata, Marica Eoli, Alessandro Della Puppa, Ardi Pambuku, Domenico D'Avella, Franco Berti, Roberta Rudà, and Vittorina Zagonel.
• Department of Clinical and Experimental Oncology, Medical Oncology 1, Veneto Institute of Oncology IOV - IRCCS, via Gattamelata, 64, 35128, Padua, Italy. giuseppe.lombardi@ioveneto.it.
• J. Neurooncol. 2015 Nov 1; 125 (2): 359-67.

AbstractThe efficacy of temozolomide (TMZ) plus radiation therapy (RT) in elderly patients with glioblastoma is unclear. We performed a large multicenter retrospective study to analyze prognostic factors and clinical outcome in these patients. Inclusion criteria were age ≥65 years, newly histologically confirmed glioblastoma, ECOG PS 0-2, adjuvant treatment with RT plus TMZ. We enrolled 237 patients; the average age was 71 and ECOG PS was 0-1 in 196 patients; gross total resection was performed in 174 cases. MGMT was analyzed in 151 persons and was methylated in 56 %. IDH1 was assessed in 100 patients and was mutated in 6 %. Seventy-one patients were treated with RT 40 Gy and 166 with RT 60 Gy. Progression-free survival and overall survival (OS) were 11.3 and 17.3 months, respectively. Overall survival was 19.4 vs 13.8 months for patients treated with RT 60 Gy and 40 Gy (p = 0.02); OS was 17.7 versus 16.1 months for patients treated with gross total resection vs partial surgery (p = 0.02); OS was 21.2 versus 13.6 months for methylated and unmethylated MGMT (p < 0.001). On multivariate analysis, gross total resection, RT 60 Gy, methylated MGMT and ECOG PS 0-1 were independent predictors of longer survival. Twenty-five patients (10 %) had grade 3-4 haematological toxicity during the concomitant treatment. We showed that, in elderly patients in good clinical condition treated with concomitant treatment, standard-course irradiation might be more effective than short-course irradiation. Methylated MGMT remains the most important prognostic factor.

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