Therapy for recurrent high-grade gliomas: results of a prospective multicenter study on health-related quality of life

OBJECTIVE: To assess the impact of therapy on patients' health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in recurrent high-grade glioma (HGG) in an unselected cohort. METHODS: In this prospective multicenter study, we analyzed European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life core questionnaire and European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire-Brain Neoplasm module questionnaires of 92 patients within 1 year after diagnosis of tumor recurrence of a HGG and respective treatment. We evaluated the influence of re-radiation, second- and third-line chemotherapies, and number of recurrent surgeries on summary scores for functioning, symptoms, and total score as well as on subscores for functioning and neurologic symptoms using multivariate mixed models and descriptive statistics. RESULTS: After we adjusted for Karnofsky Performance Score and age, different recurrent therapies did not significantly impact HRQoL. Neither re-radiation nor recurrent surgery significantly influenced HRQoL (total score, P = 0.66; P = 0.64). Patients receiving second-line chemotherapy showed moderately better physical and role functioning as well as less motor dysfunction than patients receiving third-line chemotherapy. When we compared HRQoL after second-line chemotherapies, patients receiving intensified temozolomide dosages demonstrated a moderately better outcome for cognitive functioning and less communication deficits (P = 0.055) than patients treated with bevacizumab. Regarding number of recurrent surgeries, we found stable HRQoL scores until second recurrent surgery, whereas after third recurrent surgery HRQoL decreased. CONCLUSIONS: Our results from an unselected cohort of recurrent HGGs show that the currently available treatment options have no negative impact on HRQoL. Thus, treatment decisions can be made individually, without fear of jeopardizing HRQoL for better survival. Only, the third recurrent surgery remains a very individual decision even in younger patients with high Karnofsky Performance Score

The patients' view: impact of the extent of resection, intraoperative imaging, and awake surgery on health-related quality of life in high-grade glioma patients-results of a multicenter cross-sectional study

The objective of the present study is to assess the influence of extent of resection (EoR), use of intraoperative imaging, and awake surgery on health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in high-grade glioma (HGG) patients in a prospective multicenter study. We analyzed 170 surgeries of patients suffering from a HGG. During the first year after resection, HRQoL was evaluated using the European Organization of Research and Treatment of Cancer Core Questionnaire C30 and Brain Neoplasm 20 questionnaires. We assessed the influence of EoR; awake surgery; and use of 5-aminolevulinic acid (5-ALA), intraoperative MRI (iMRI), and their combination on sum scores for function and symptoms as well as several neurological single items. In mixed-model analyses, adjustments for age, Karnofsky performance status (KPS), and eloquent location were performed. In the mixed model, EoR generally did not significantly influence HRQoL (p = 0.10). Yet, patients receiving subtotal resection (STR) vs. patients with biopsy showed significantly better QoL and role and cognitive functions (p = 0.04, p = 0.02, and p < 0.01, respectively). The combination of iMRI and 5-ALA reached the highest EoR (95%) followed by iMRI alone (94%), 5-ALA alone (74%), and no imaging (73%). Thereby, neurological symptoms were lowest and functioning score highest after combined use of iMRI and 5-ALA, without reaching significance (p = 0.59). Despite lower scores in emotional function (59 vs. 46, p = 0.24), no significant impact of awake surgery on HRQoL was found (p = 0.70). In HGG patients, STR compared to biopsy was significantly associated with better HRQoL and fewer neurological symptoms in this series. An escalated use of intraoperative imaging increased EoR with stable or slightly better HRQoL and fewer neurological symptoms. Based on HRQoL, awake surgery was a well-tolerated and safe method in our series