Purpose

The optimal radiotherapy regimen for elderly and/or frail patients with newly diagnosed glioblastoma remains to be established. This study compared two radiotherapy regimens on the outcome of these patients.

Patients and Methods

Between 2010 and 2013, 98 patients (frail: age equal or greater than 50 years and Karnofsky performance status [KPS] of 50% to 70%; elderly and frail: age equal or greater than 65 years and KPS of 50% to 70%; elderly: age equal or greater than 65 years and KPS of 80% to 100%) were prospectively randomly assigned to two arms in a 1:1 ratio, stratified by age (less than vs. equal or greater than 65 years old), KPS, and extent of surgical resection. Arm one received short-course radiotherapy (25 Gy in five daily fractions over 1 week), and arm two received commonly used radiotherapy (40 Gy in 15 daily fractions over three weeks).

Results

The short-course radiotherapy was non-inferior to commonly used radiotherapy. The median overall survival time was 7.9 months (95% CI, 6.3 to 9.6 months) in arm one and 6.4 months (95% CI, 5.1 to 7.6 months) in arm two (P = .988). Median progression-free survival time was 4.2 months (95% CI, 2.5 to 5.9) in arm one and 4.2 months (95% CI, 2.6 to 5.7) in arm two (P = .716). With a median follow-up time of 6.3 months, the quality of life between both arms at four weeks after treatment and eight weeks after treatment was not different.

Conclusion

There were no differences in overall survival time, progression-free survival time, and quality of life between patients receiving the two radiotherapy regimens. In view of the reduced treatment time, the short one-week radiotherapy regimen may be recommended as a treatment option for elderly and/or frail patients with newly diagnosed glioblastoma.

The results of the CRP were published in: J Clin Oncol 33: 4145-4150. ? 2015 by American Society of Clinical Oncology

Researchers from Canada, Poland, India, Belarus, Brazil, Georgia, Tunisia and Serbia participated in this CRP.

For more information, please see the CRP description:

http://www.urlse.cn/projects/crp/e33033

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