According to researchers, characteristics of glioblastoma including seizures, location, and pressure in the brain give valuable insight into length of survival as well as treatment options for patients over the age of 70 years.
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Patients with glioblastoma over the age of 70 years are less likely than younger patients to survive 1 year after diagnosis. In the UK alone, approximately 34% of documented brain tumor cases appear in patients in this age group.
In a study presented at the National Cancer Research Institute’s Cancer Conference (November 6-9, 2016; Liverpool, UK), 339 glioblastomas from patients over the age of 70 were analyzed. Patients survived approximately 4 months on average after their diagnosis, and only 4% were alive 2 years after their diagnosis. Differing characteristics were found to be predictive of how long patients with glioblastoma are likely to survive, with recurring speech impairment, weakness, confusion, high pressure on the brain, and location on the brain or cerebellum indicating poor survival prognosis.
Dr Cressida Lorimer, researcher at the Brighton and Sussex Medical School and study author, stressed that older patients with glioblastoma can have a more accurately determined length of survival and treatment options if they undergo brain tumor scanning at initial diagnosis. “Our study in brain tumor patients aged over 70 showed that scans at diagnosis played a crucial role in determining how long a patient was likely to survive,” Dr Lorimer explained.
She also cited a lack of research in patients with brain tumors over the age of 70 years as detrimental in determining best treatment options. There is an “urgent need to improve survival” for these patients, she said, as well as a need to create guidelines for clinicians to maintain their quality of life.
