Preoperative anaplastic glioma tumor volume effects on patient survival.
OBJECTIVE
The relationship between preoperative tumor volume and patient survival has long been studied, but the results have been inconsistent. Since geometric measurement of tumor volume was used in these studies, the aim of this study was to ascertain whether the inconsistency of the study results is due to less accurate geometric measurement.


METHODS
Prognostic tumor volume effects were compared between the planimetry method and the geometric method using survival analysis, performed for 99 patients diagnosed with anaplastic glioma tumor.


RESULTS
A significant correlation was found between planimetry tumor volume and patient survival, but there was no correlation between geometric tumor volume and patient survival. The larger planimetry tumor volume was significantly associated with shorter survival.


CONCLUSIONS
The study indicated that in brain tumor research the preoperative tumor volume measured by the geometric method may not be prognostically important. The more accurate measurement, i.e., the planimetry method (based on either computed tomography or magnetic resonance imaging), is needed in brain tumor clinical research and prognostic diagnosis.
Xue
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Department of Biostatistics and Technology, Parexel International Inc., Durham, North Carolina. Dixiiue@aol.com
Albright
R E
RE
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001254:Astrocytoma / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology / Q000628:therapy; D001921:Brain / Q000473:pathology; D001932:Brain Neoplasms / Q000401:mortality* / Q000473:pathology* / Q000628:therapy; D003131:Combined Modality Therapy; D005909:Glioblastoma / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology / Q000628:therapy; D005910:Glioma / Q000401:mortality* / Q000473:pathology* / Q000628:therapy; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D011379:Prognosis; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D016019:Survival Analysis