Background: Glioblastoma is a fatal brain cancer with low median and yearly survival rates. Standard of care for treating glioblastoma is gross total resection (GTR) coupled with the Stupp protocol, but various factors influence the interventions undertaken and survival achieved. As health disparities exist in rural areas, survival in these areas needs to be assessed to understand which factors detract from the successes of these standard medical interventions.
Methods: We retrospectively determined impact of age at diagnosis, number of lesions, the molecular marker O6-methylguanine methyltransferase (MGMT), extent of surgery, and completion of the Stupp protocol on survival in patients treated at West Virginia University Hospitals. We also compared our findings with a pre-Stupp protocol study done in West Virginia in 1996.
Results: Age <60 years at diagnosis, having the MGMT gene methylated, having a unifocal tumor, receiving GTR, adhering to the Stupp protocol, and undergoing a treatment course of GTR followed by the Stupp protocol significantly increased survival. Comparison with the 1996 study showed that although overall median survival has not increased, all interventions involving GTR have resulted in a significantly higher survival.
Conclusions: We can serve our patient population by offering GTR to all adult patients with glioblastoma when no contraindications exist and ensuring that patients follow the Stupp protocol. After discharge, the Stupp protocol may not be followed or completed for a variety of reasons. In the future, we aim to assess these reasons and analyze other significant interventional and socioeconomic factors that influence survival.
Keywords: Appalachia; Glioblastoma; Gross total resection (GTR); Median survival; Rural areas; Stupp protocol; West Virginia.
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