Optimal Therapies for Newly Diagnosed Elderly Patients with Glioblastoma

Newly diagnosed elderly patients (age > 65-70 years) with glioblastoma should be treated with a patient-centred approach by a multi-disciplinary team. Chronological age alone should not be considered as a contraindication to treatment with maximal safe surgical resection. A 3-week course of adjuvant radiation and chemotherapy is appropriate in selected elderly patients with favourable Karnofsky performance status (KPS) who cannot tolerate a longer 6-week course of fractionated radiotherapy. The presence or absence of 0⁶-methylguanine-DNA methyltransferase (MGMT) promoter methylation can be used to guide clinical decision-making as both prognostic and predictive biomarkers. This review provides an update and summary of the available evidence for treating newly diagnosed elderly patients with glioblastoma.