[Results of local radiotherapy and modified total-brain irradiation in astrocytoma]

A retrospective evaluation was made on the results of primary or postoperative radiotherapy in 162 patients with grade I to IV astrocytomas. The greatest part of the overall group was built by 113 patients suffering from glioblastoma multiforme. For the survival analysis, the prognostic importance of the following factors was investigated: sex, age, surgery, radicality of surgery, grading according to Kernohan, tumorous lesions in central structures, and target volume of radiotherapy. The prognosis is first of all dependent on the operability, the grading, and the age of the patient. The survival of patients with malignant gliomas is not influenced by the radicality of the operation and the extension of the target volume to the whole brain (total-brain irradiation and boost). Thus in the treatment of malignant astrocytomas, the less extensive surgical and radiotherapeutical intervention seems an adequate method to manage this disease.