Overall survival of newly diagnosed glioblastoma patients receiving carmustine wafers followed by radiation and concurrent temozolomide plus rotational multiagent chemotherapy.
BACKGROUND
Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM), the most lethal type of brain tumor, has a 1-year median survival. The effect of carmustine wafers on the survival of newly diagnosed GBM patients treated with radiotherapy (RT) and concurrent temozolomide (TMZ) plus RT plus rotational chemotherapy was investigated.


METHODS
An institutional review board-approved retrospective study was conducted in 85 newly diagnosed GBM patients who received surgical resection with and without carmustine wafers followed by RT and concurrent TMZ plus rotational chemotherapy. Treatment group comparisons were conducted using the log-rank test. Survival experience of the Duke cohort was examined within specific patient subgroups defined by the original Radiation Therapy Oncology Group (RTOG) recursive partition analysis (RPA) class and compared with the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer (Stupp) and RTOG trial.


RESULTS
Overall 1- and 2-year survival for the noncarmustine wafer cohort were 69% and 29%, respectively, with a median survival of 72.7 weeks. One- and 2-year survival for the carmustine wafer cohort were 81% and 47%, with median survival of 89.5 weeks. Carmustine wafer was not an independent predictor (P=.110) of survival after adjustment for RPA class. The proportion of patients in the carmustine wafer cohort who lived longer than predicted based upon Stupp regimen results was significantly greater than 0.5 (P<.006); similar results based upon the RTOG trial data were observed (P<.001).


CONCLUSIONS
Carmustine wafer with concurrent TMZ and radiation followed by rotational chemotherapy is a well tolerated, effective therapy, and has a survival benefit compared with radiation alone. Prospective randomized trials are needed to rigorously compare the carmustine wafer regimen to the Stupp and postradiation multimodality regimens.
Affronti
Mary Lou
ML
Department of Surgery, Duke University Medical Center, and The Preston Robert Tisch Brain Tumor Center, South Hospital, Durham, North Carolina. 27710, USA.
Heery
Christopher R
CR
Herndon
James E
JE
Rich
Jeremy N
JN
Reardon
David A
DA
Desjardins
Annick
A
Vredenburgh
James J
JJ
Friedman
Allan H
AH
Bigner
Darell D
DD
Friedman
Henry S
HS
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000971:Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001932:Brain Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000532:radiotherapy* / Q000601:surgery; D002330:Carmustine / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D003131:Combined Modality Therapy; D003606:Dacarbazine / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000031:analogs & derivatives*; D005260:Female; D005909:Glioblastoma / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000532:radiotherapy* / Q000601:surgery; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D016019:Survival Analysis; D000077204:Temozolomide
D003606:Dacarbazine; D002330:Carmustine; D000077204:Temozolomide