Chemotherapy for gliomas in mainland China: An overview

Chemotherapy is currently the standard treatment modality for malignant gliomas. Many patients with gliomas are treated in mainland China every year. The history and development of chemotherapy for glioma, however, are not well documented. In this study, an extensive literature search of Pubmed and major Chinese electronic databases was performed to identify clinical studies. A total of 210 publications were identified, with a total of 10,105 patients. Among these studies, 76.2% were retrospective and 23.8% were prospective. Chemotherapy was found to have been administered by the Department of Neurosurgery in 143 studies (68.1%). Oral or intravenous administration was found in 55.7% of studies, followed by intra-arterial (26.7%) and interstitial (15.7%) chemotherapy. Nitrosoureas were the most frequently used chemotherapeutic agents, as found in 133 studies (63.3%). Since 2003, 56 studies on temozolomide (TMZ) have been published. Studies on chemotherapy for gliomas began in the 1970s in mainland China but well-designed randomized controlled trials (RCTs) are rare. Much effort and collaboration should be made to carry out high-quality multicenter RCTs on chemotherapy for gliomas.