Retrospective analysis of glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) patients treated initially with BCNU compared to temozolomide (TMZ) with concomitant radiation therapy

Abstract

2071 Background: TMZ and radiation as initial treatment has become the standard of care for GBM. There are no randomized studies comparing TMZ to BCNU in GBM. Methods: We did a retrospective analysis of all 100 GBM patients (pts) diagnosed by our pathology department in the last 10 years. 20 pts were excluded, in 12 pts no chemotherapy was given and there was no data available for 8 pts. BCNU treatment was given in earlier years than TMZ generally. Overall survival (OS), progression free survival (PFS) and four prognostic factors were compared between BCNU and TMZ treated groups. Results: Results show that there is no significant difference in OS and PFS between the two groups. Survival curves were superimposable. This is despite the fact that tumor size and ECOG performance status were worse, though not significantly so in the BCNU group. Age was the only variable that correlated with survival. After correcting for age there was still no difference in PFS and OS between the BCNU and TMZ group. Conclusions: Our study fails to shows superiority of TMZ over BCNU despite the fact that the BCNU group had worse prognostic factors. A randomized comparison of these two agents seems justifiable. [Table: see text] No significant financial relationships to disclose.