Prognostic factors in supratentorial ganglioglioma

Although gangliogliomas are often associated with long survival, efforts to identify specific prognostic factors in these tumors have been largely unsuccessful. To identify factors associated with long survival, we retrospectively reviewed 42 cases of supratentorial ganglioglioma surgically treated at our institution since 1985. Data analysis included Kaplan-Meier survival curves and log-rank tests of the effects of individual variables. The Cox proportional hazards method was used to fit a model incorporating several variables simultaneously. The 42 cases included 21 male and 21 female patients with an average age at surgery of 31 years. Length of follow-up averaged 48 months. Ten patients died an average of 38 months after surgery. Factors found to have a significant correlation with mortality were older age at diagnosis (P = 0.012), male gender (P = 0.034), and malignant glial features (P = 0.020). Presenting symptoms, location of tumor, adjuvant radiation therapy, and extent of surgical resection were not significantly related to survival. These results are the first to demonstrate an association between prognostic factors and outcome in patients with supratentorial ganglioglioma.