Prognostic Factors and Nomogram Predicting Survival in Diffuse Astrocytoma

Background Prognosis of low-grade glioma are currently determined by genetic markers that are limited in some countries. This study aimed to use clinical parameters to develop a nomogram to predict survival of patients with diffuse astrocytoma (DA) which is the most common type of low-grade glioma. Materials and Methods Retrospective data of adult patients with DA from three university hospitals in Thailand were analyzed. Collected data included clinical characteristics, neuroimaging findings, treatment, and outcomes. Cox's regression analyses were performed to determine associated factors. Significant associated factors from the Cox regression model were subsequently used to develop a nomogram for survival prediction. Performance of the nomogram was then tested for its accuracy. Results There were 64 patients with DA with a median age of 39.5 (interquartile range [IQR] = 20.2) years. Mean follow-up time of patients was 42 months (standard deviation [SD] = 34.3). After adjusted for three significant factors associated with survival were age ≥60 years (hazard ratio [HR] = 5.8; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 2.09-15.91), motor response score of Glasgow coma scale < 6 (HR = 75.5; 95% CI: 4.15-1,369.4), and biopsy (HR = 0.45; 95% CI: 0.21-0.92). To predict 1-year mortality, sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value, accuracy, and area under the curve our nomogram was 1.0, 0.50, 0.45, 1.0, 0.64, and 0.75, respectively. Conclusions This study provided a nomogram predicting prognosis of DA. The nomogram showed an acceptable performance for predicting 1-year mortality.