A study of prognostic factors and therapy of intracranial glioma

Abstract

Objective: To predict the prognosis of intracranial glioma on the basis of age, neurological status, histopathological grade etc. so as to facilitate theraputic decision-making. Methods: Follow-up information of 91 cases of supratentorial gliomas treated in our department between 1986 and 1997 were reviewed retrospectively. Eight prognostic factors, age, tumor location, preoperative neurological status, history of seizure, surgical removal extent, pathological grade, postoperative radiotherapy and chemotherapy were analyzed. According to these factors, patients were divided into groups individually. Uni- and multivariate Cox regression model and linear relationship analysis were performed. Results: In univariate analysis, age, preoperative neurological status, history of seizure and pathological grade had statistically significant interaction on survival time. While in multivariate analysis, only age, history of seizure and tumor location were demonstrated to be independent prognostic factors. In linear relationship study, preoperative status and pathological diagnosis were both statistically related to age and history of seizure, and surgical removal extent was related to tumor location. Conclusion: Age was revealed to be the most important independent prognostic factor in our study, followed by history of seizure and tumor location. To some extent, young patients who has a history of seizure and a tumor located on the pole of the frontal, temporal or occipital lobe, would likely have a longer survival time. Pathological grade, surgical removal extent and radiotherapy were not revealed to be independent prognostic factors in our study. That may be partially due to the retrospective character of our study. Prospective study is warranted for further analysis.