Related Experiment Video
Updated: Apr 17, 2026
The Clinical Application of Tumor Treating Fields Therapy in Glioblastoma
Published on: April 16, 2019
Elderly patients with glioblastoma multiforme treated with concurrent temozolomide and standard- versus
Christine N Chang-Halpenny1, Jekwon Yeh2, Winston W Lien3
1Radiation Oncologist at the Sunset Medical Center in Los Angeles, CA. christine.n.chang-halpenny@kp.org.
Context:
Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is an aggressive neoplasm, with controversy regarding treatment in elderly patients.
Objective:
To review outcomes of elderly patients aged ≥ 65 with newly diagnosed GBM treated with concurrent temozolomide and either standard-course radiotherapy (SRT) or abbreviated-course radiotherapy (ART).
Design:
Retrospective review from 2003 to 2012.
Main Outcome Measure:
Survival, comparing treatment regimens. One hundred patients received SRT (median dose = 60 Gy), and 29 received ART (median dose = 35 Gy). O6- methylguanine-DNA methyltransferase (MGMT) status was available for 26 SRT and 13 ART recipients.
Results:
Median age was 70 years. Median follow-up was 11 months. At analysis, 3 patients were alive. Multivariate analysis of the entire cohort found SRT (hazard ratio [HR] = 0.421, p = 0.0001), Karnofsky Performance Score of 70 or higher (HR = 1.894, p = 0.0031), and more extensive surgery (HR = 0.466, p = 0.0023) were associated with longer survival time, but age was not. Median time to death with SRT was 13 months versus 5.4 months with ART, but the latter had worse prognostic factors, including lower Karnofsky Performance Scores, fewer gross total resections, and higher recursive partitioning analysis class. Recipients of SRT with methylated MGMT promoter had a trend toward longer survival compared with unmethylated MGMT (p = 0.06), but ART recipients had shorter survival with MGMT methylation (p = 0.02).
Conclusion:
Elderly patients with multiple poor prognostic factors given ART had short survival times. Relative to other variables, MGMT status may not predict outcome for these patients.
