• Giuseppe Minniti, Claudia Scaringi, Alessandra Baldoni, Gaetano Lanzetta, Vitaliana De Sanctis, Vincenzo Esposito, and Riccardo Maurizi Enrici.
• Department of Radiation Oncology, Sant' Andrea Hospital, University Sapienza, Rome, Italy. gminniti@ospedalesantandrea.it
• Int. J. Radiat. Oncol. Biol. Phys. 2013 Jun 1;86(2):285-91.

PurposeTo describe the quality of life (QOL) in elderly patients with glioblastoma (GBM) treated with an abbreviated course of radiation therapy (RT; 40 Gy in 15 fractions) plus concomitant and adjuvant temozolomide (TMZ).Methods And MaterialsHealth-related QOL (HRQOL) was assessed by European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) Quality of Life Questionnaire Core-30 (QLQ-C30, version 3) and EORTC Quality of Life Questionnaire Brain Cancer Module (QLQ-BN20). Changes from baseline in the score of 9 preselected domains (global QLQ, social functioning, cognitive functioning, emotional functioning, physical functioning, motor dysfunction, communication deficit, fatigue, insomnia) were determined 4 weeks after RT and thereafter every 8 weeks during the treatment until disease progression. The proportion of patients with improved HRQOL scores, defined as a change of 10 points or more, and duration of changes were recorded.ResultsSixty-five patients completed the questionnaires at baseline. The treatment was consistently associated with improvement or stability in most of the preselected HRQOL domains. Global health improved over time; mean score differed by 9.6 points between baseline and 6-month follow-up (P=.03). For social functioning and cognitive functioning, mean scores improved over time, with a maximum difference of 10.4 points and 9.5 points between baseline and 6-month follow-up (P=.01 and P=.02), respectively. By contrast, fatigue worsened over time, with a difference in mean score of 5.6 points between baseline and 4-month follow-up (P=.02).ConclusionsA short course of RT in combination with TMZ in elderly patients with GBM was associated with survival benefit without a negative effect on HRQOL until the time of disease progression.Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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