Treatment outcomes and prognostic factors in patients with supratentorial low-grade gliomas

Low-grade gliomas account for 10-15% of all adult primary intracranial tumours. Currently, there is no consensus on the treatment strategy for low-grade gliomas. This study was designed to evaluate the treatment outcomes, prognostic factors and radiation-related late complications, as well as to assess whether or not post-operative radiotherapy has benefit on local control and overall survival in this population. We retrospectively reviewed 93 consecutive adult patients with supratentorial low-grade gliomas diagnosed at our institution from July 1985 to December 1997. All patients underwent surgical intervention and 60 of them received post-operative radiotherapy. With a median follow-up of 110 months for surviving patients, the 5-year overall and progression-free survival rates were 57% and 47%, respectively. 46 patients experienced local progression of disease during the follow-up period. In multivariate analysis, age at diagnosis, extent of surgery and post-operative Karnofsky performance status showed independent prognostic significance for progression-free and overall survival rates. Post-operative radiotherapy had independent prognostic value for progression-free survival. This analysis has changed our practice and we suggest that aggressive surgical resection and post-operative radiotherapy might be considered for patients with low-grade gliomas. Further efforts should be made to optimize radiotherapy techniques and to integrate new therapeutic modalities.