• Barbara Fazeny-Dörner, Anwar Gyries, Karl Rössler, Karl Ungersböck, Thomas Czech, Alexandra Budinsky, Monika Killer, Karin Dieckmann, Maria Piribauer, Gerhart Baumgartner, Daniela Prayer, Mario Veitl, Manfred Muhm, and Christine Marosi.
• Clinical Division of Oncology & Ludwig Boltzmann Intitute for Clinical Experimental Oncology, Department of Medicine I, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria.
• Wien. Klin. Wochenschr. 2003 Jun 24; 115 (11): 389-97.

MethodologyThe survival of 357 consecutive patients with newly diagnosed glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) in three treatment groups reflecting different time-periods of diagnosis (A: 1982-1984; B: 1994/1995; C: 1996-1998) was analysed to assess the impact and the potential improvement of changing treatment strategies in our tertiary-care center.Patients And MethodsGroup A (n = 100) included all consecutive patients diagnosed from 1982 to 1984 and served as the historical control. Group B (n = 93) included all consecutive patients diagnosed in 1994/1995 and group C (n = 164) those diagnosed from 1996 to 1998. Survival in the three treatment groups (A vs. B vs. C) was analysed according to treatment given after neurosurgical intervention (i.e. no specific therapy versus radiotherapy versus combined radio-/chemotherapy), and according to first-line chemotherapy, age (< 40, 40-60, > 60), sex, and tumor location (hemispheric versus bilateral or multifocal tumors, and tumors involving eloquent brain areas). Survival was analysed using Kaplan-Meier's non-parametric method. A p-value < 0.05 was considered statistically significant.ResultsPatients in groups A and B received radio- and/or chemotherapy to a varying extent (radiotherapy: group A: 22%, group B: 62%; chemotherapy: group A: 6%, group B: 33%). Chemotherapy was administered after termination of radiotherapy in both groups. In group C, 96% of patients received combined radio-/chemotherapy which was administered concomitantly and started within three weeks after surgery. Median survival was 5.2 months in group A, 5.1 months in group B and 14.5 months in C (p < 0.0001). Nine patients in group A (9%), 9 in group B (10%) and 40 in group C (25%) survived more than 18 months (p < 0.05).ConclusionsSurvival improvement in group C might be attributable to the early start of combined radio-/chemotherapy. Therapy was administered on a complete outpatient basis, enabled by a dedicated interdisciplinary neuro-oncologic team caring for group C. Toxicity was mild and patients' acceptance excellent.

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