The study covered in this summary was published on ResearchSquare.com as a preprint and has not yet been peer reviewed.
Key Takeaways
Patients with glioblastoma (GBM) who completed 12 cycles of temozolomide (TMZ) with Karnofsky performance status (KPS) at 12 cycles ≥ 80 had a longer median overall survival (OS) compared with those with KPS at 12 cycles < 80.
The findings of this study do not support prolonging maintenance TMZ therapy beyond 12 cycles, regardless of MGMT promoter methylation status or residual tumors.
Long-term maintenance TMZ therapy does not appear to negatively affect survival after tumor progression.
Why This Matters
Studies investigating the clinical effect of long-term TMZ therapy have produced mixed results.
This study evaluated the clinical effect of long-term maintenance TMZ on patients with newly diagnosed isocitrate dehydrogenase (IDH1)/2-wildtype GBM.
The findings suggest that patients with KPS at 12 cycles ≥ 80 could maximally benefit from the prolonged use of TMZ.
Study Design
The retrospective observational study included 41 patients with IDH1/2-wildtype GBM who completed 12 cycles of maintenance TMZ therapy between June 2006 and December 2019. Follow-up data were collected in May 2021.
The cohort was made up of 25 patients who discontinued TMZ therapy upon completing 12 cycles and were followed up until progression, and 16 patients who continued maintenance TMZ therapy beyond 12 cycles to disease progression or for a maximum of 24 cycles.
