Salvati M, Cervoni L, Artico M, Caruso R, Gagliardi F M
Department of Neurological Sciences, La Sapienza University of Rome, Italy.
J Neurooncol. 1998 Jan;36(1):61-4. doi: 10.1023/a:1017926603341.
The authors report 11 patients with cerebral glioblastoma who lived at least 5 years after their initial diagnosis. There were 6 female and 5 male; the mean age was 39 years (range 24-55 years). All patients were treated surgically and postoperatively received whole-brain radiotherapy and chemotherapy. Five patients (45%) presented local recurrences after an average interval of 3.9 years from treatment. At average follow-up of 9 years (range 5-14 years), 7 patients (64%) were alive after an average interval of 8.1 years; 4 patients (36%) died from local relapse. Survival was influenced by patient age and, to a lesser degree, by treatment. A review of the literature, together with our own series, suggest that death from recurrence disease is unusual in glioblastoma patients who survive more than 5 years.
