Retrospective survival comparison of patients with cerebral versus cerebellar glioblastomas

Abstract

Glioblastoma (GM) is one of the most common malignant parenchymal tumors in adults with the majority being supratentorial. Cerebellar GMs are far less common, comprising less than 1% of all intracranial GMs. To our knowledge, no large scale studies have been done to compare the survival outcome of cerebellar to cerebral GMs.Clinical characteristics of 42 patients with newly diagnosed cerebellar GMs from the files of M.D. Anderson Cancer Center between 1985 and 2005 were reviewed, and compared with 649 cerebral GMs. The median age of patients with cerebellar GM was 38.7, which was significantly younger than for cerebral GM (56.7, p<0.001). Survival outcome between the two patient populations was also compared. The median survival for the cerebellar GM group was 61.6 weeks, not significantly different from the cerebral GM group (81.3 weeks, p=0.156). However, long‐term survivorship, as defined by survival at 2 years was 17.5% and 28.6% for cerebral and cerebellar GMs, respectively (p<0.001).Cerebellar GMs occur in a younger patient population than cerebral GMs. The median survival does not appear to differ, but there is an increase in long‐term survivorship in cerebellar tumors. Comparison of molecular signatures, treatment modalities and tumor progression among the patients are under investigation to better stratify the patient populations.