A multicentre prospective collection of newly diagnosed glioblastoma patients in Lombardia, Italy

The objective was to set the basis for a prospective, multicentre data collection on newly diagnosed adult glioblastoma patients diagnosed in Lombardia by means of a common database used by neurological and neurosurgical units of various hospitals, providing epidemiological, therapy and follow-up data. All adult patients with a newly diagnosed glioblastoma in 9 Lombardia hospitals from 31 March 2003 to 31 March 2004 were followed prospectively by a form elaborated by the Lombardia Neurooncology Group. Demographic data were recorded, as well as symptoms at onset, entity of tumour resection, post-surgical Karnofsky Performance Score, radio- and chemotherapy, presence/absence of venous thrombosis, type of antiepileptic treatment, time to tumour progression and survival time (ST). One hundred and thirty-four newly diagnosed glioblastoma patients were enrolled during the first year of the study. Male/female ratio was 1.6:1. Median age was 61 years. The most common single sign/symptom at disease onset included seizures, followed by mood/cognition changes and headache. In 71 patients, the tumour involved 1 brain lobe at diagnosis. Twenty-five patients underwent biopsy, 51 partial removal and 51 grossly total removal. At analysis of predictive value on ST, grossly total resection and chemotherapy were significantly associated with a longer ST. Age younger than 50 showed a trend to predictive value. A very high proportion of patients were treated with antiepileptic drugs, even in the absence of seizures. Median ST was 12 months in our cohort. Data in newly diagnosed glioblastoma patients in Lombardia are in line with other case series reported in other populations.