RETROSPECTIVE COMPARISON OF CHEMORADIOTHERAPY FOLLOWED BY ADJUVANT CHEMOTHERAPY, WITH OR WITHOUT PRIOR GLIADEL IMPLANTATION (CARMUSTINE) AFTER INITIAL SURGERY IN PATIENTS WITH NEWLY DIAGNOSED HIGH-GRADE GLIOMAS

Purpose: Retrospective study of patients treated for high-grade glioma, with or without biodegradable carmustine wafers and according to the Stupp protocol. Methods and Materials: Between May 2007 and June 2008, 65 patients underwent surgery for high-grade glioma, 28 had implantation of Gliadel and 37 patients did not. Patients received radiotherapy with concomitant temozo-. lomide followed by 5 consecutive days of temozolomide every month for 6 months. Results: Overall median follow-up was 17.1 months; the median relapse-free survival (RFS) was 14 months with a RFS of 54% at 12 months, and 38% at 24 months. For patient with and without Gliadel, median and 1-year RFS were 12.9 months and 52% vs. 14 months and 42%, respectively (p = 0.89). According to pathology, Gliadel did not influence RFS of patients with Grade III or glioblastoma. However, for all patients, in multivariate analysis, non. methylated methylguanine methyltransferase (MGMT) was the only unfavorable prognostic factor of RFS (p = 0.017; HR 2.8; Cl [1.2-7]). Median overall survival (OS) was 20.8 months; the OS rate at 12 months watt 78.5%, and at 24 months 35.4%. For patients treated with and without Gliadel, median and 1-year OS were 20.6 months and 78.6% vs. 20.8 months and 78.4%, respectively. According to pathology, Gliadel did not influence OS of patients with Grade III or glioblastoma. For all patients, in multivariate analysis, unfavorable prognostica. tors for OS were non-methylated MGMT (p = 0.001; HR: 6.5; CI [2-20]) and irradiation dose <60 Gy (p = 0.02; HR: 6.3; CI [2-20]). With carmustine wafers, before irradiation, median gross tumor volume plus edema was 84 mL. (27-229), whereas it was 68 mL (10-362) without carmustine (p = nonsignificant). Four cases of Grade 3 thrombopenia occurred, all in the carmustine wafer group. Conclusion: In patients with high-grade gliomas, adding Gliadel before performing a Stupp protocol did not improve survival. (C) 2012 Elsevier Inc.