Analysis of Factors Associated with Long-Term Survival in Patients with Glioblastoma

BACKGROUND: Some patients with glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) survive 3e5 years (or longer) after diagnosis. The goal of this study was to identify differences between the long-term survivors (LTS) and those who had a shorter overall survival (non-LTS groups). METHODS: This study was a retrospective analysis of prospectively maintained surgical databases. All patients who underwent safe maximal resection for GBM were included. Demographic, clinical, radiologic, and pathologic data were obtained from electronic medical records. Values of the biomarkers of systemic inflammation were computed from the preoperative hemogram reports. Patients with an overall survival (OS) & Dagger;36 months were defined as the LTS group and were compared with the non-LTS groups (OS<36 months). RESULTS: Patients in the LTS group were younger, had a better baseline performance status, and were more likely to have undergone near-or gross-total resection. LTS was associated with lower Ki67 labeling, MGMT methylation, IDH mutation, and lack of p53 overexpression. Several novel findings were generated by this study. A longer pretreatment duration of symptoms was associated with a longer OS. Higher pretreatment levels of the absolute neutrophil count, neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio, monocyte-lymphocyte ratio, derived neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio and systemic index of inflammation, and lower levels of the absolute eosinophil count and eosinophil-lymphocyte ratio all correlated with a shorter OS. CONCLUSIONS: Several differences were identified between the LTS and non-LTS groups. These differences will likely be incorporated into future prognostic models. They may also aid in differentiation between recurrent disease and treatment-related changes

Automated summary

This study identified differences between long-term survivors (LTS) and non-LTS groups in terms of age, surgical outcomes, and molecular biomarkers. Additionally, novel findings were generated, including the correlation between duration of pretreatment symptoms and overall survival, as well as the association between inflammation markers and survival time. These differences may be utilized in future prognostic models and assist in distinguishing between recurrent disease and treatment-related changes.