The IDH paradox: Meta-analysis of alkylating chemotherapy in IDH-wild type and -mutant lower grade gliomas

IDH-wild type (-wt) status is a prerequisite for the diagnosis of glioblastoma (GBM); however, IDH-wt gliomas with low-grade or anaplastic morphology have historically been excluded from GBM trials and may represent a distinct prognostic entity. While alkylating agent chemotherapy improves overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS) for IDH-wt GBM and also IDH-mutant gliomas, irrespective of grade, the benefit for IDH-wt diffuse histologic lower-grade gliomas is unclear.

We performed a meta-analysis of randomized clinical trials for World Health Organization (WHO) grades 2-3 gliomas (2009 to present) to determine the effect of alkylating chemotherapy on IDH-wt and -mutant gliomas using a random-effects model with inverse-variance pooling.

We identified 6 trials with 1204 patients (430 IDH-wt, 774 IDH-mutant) that evaluated alkylating chemoradiotherapy versus radiotherapy alone, allowing us to perform an analysis focused on the value of adding alkylating chemotherapy to radiotherapy. For patients with IDH-wt tumors, alkylating chemotherapy added to radiotherapy was associated with improved PFS (HR:0.77 [95% CI: 0.62-0.97], P = .03) but not OS (HR:0.87 [95% CI: 0.64-1.18], P = .17). For patients with IDH-mutant tumors, alkylating chemotherapy added to radiotherapy improved both OS (HR:0.52 [95% CI: 0.42-0.64], P < .001) and PFS (HR = 0.47 [95% CI: 0.39-0.57], P < .001) compared to radiotherapy alone. The magnitude of benefit was similar for IDH-mutant gliomas with or without 1p19q-codeletion.

Alkylating chemotherapy reduces mortality by 48% and progression by 53% for patients with IDH-mutant gliomas. Optimal management of IDH-wt diffuse histologic lower-grade gliomas remains to be determined, as there is little evidence supporting an OS benefit from alkylating chemotherapy.