BACKGROUND

Tumor-treating fields (TTFields) therapy and radiotherapy may have synergistic anti-glioma effect based on preclinical studies. The combination of chemoradiation therapy (CRT) with TTFields therapy has noticeably attracted clinicians' attention. This study aimed to provide insights into the clinical outcomes of patients with newly diagnosed glioblastoma who received either concurrent CRT and TTFields therapy or adjuvant TTFields therapy following CRT. The findings were based on a cohort of patients who were treated at Huashan Hospital (Shanghai, China).

METHODS

This retrospective study analyzed ndGBM patients' clinical outcomes who were treated at Huashan Hospital and received TTFields therapy. Patients were categorized into two groups: one group received adjuvant TTFields therapy after completing CRT (referred to as the A-TTF group), while the other received TTFields therapy concurrently with CRT and continued TTFields after treatment (referred to as the CA-TTF group). The study evaluated treatment efficacy and toxicities, comparing outcomes between the two groups. Overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS) were analyzed using the Kaplan-Meier method. To mitigate confounding factors, efficacy was assessed using the Cox proportional hazards regression model, propensity score matching, and inverse probability of treatment weighting (IPTW) based on the propensity score.

RESULTS

A total of 72 patients with ndGBM were included in the study. Among them, 41 patients received concurrent and adjuvant TTFields therapy in combination with CRT (CA-TTF group), and 31 patients received adjuvant TTFields therapy with temozolomide (A-TTF group). The median follow-up time was 18.0 months. No significant differences were observed in median PFS (14.2 vs. 15.0 months, P = 0.92) or OS (20.8 vs. 20.0 months, P = 0.92) between the CA-TTF and A-TTF groups. Skin toxicity was common, while manageable, with no significant difference between the two groups. Following IPTW adjustment, the hazard ratios for PFS and OS indicated a potential advantage for the CA-TTF group, although this difference was not statistically significant.

CONCLUSION

Concurrent CRT and TTFields therapy emerged safe for newly diagnosed GBM patients. Although no significant survival differences were found between the CA-TTF and A-TTF groups, the potential benefit of concurrent TTFields warrants further investigation through large-scale clinical trials.