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Is it ever appropriate to omit temozolomide in unmethylated glioblastoma?

Do you consider the small, but statistically significant, improvement in OS to outweigh the side effects of treatment?
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When do you recommend temozolomide in unmethylated glioblastoma?

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3 Answers
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Radiation Oncology · Florida International University
Answered on

Perhaps a different perspective on this question would be which unmethylated patients would you be willing to not treat with up-front temozolomide? The genesis of the question and conundrum comes from the modest benefit described in the above-mentioned trials for this subgroup. As Hegi herself descr...

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Radiation Oncology · Turville Bay MRI & Radiation Oncology Center
Answered on

This is a good question, and of course, the answer hinges upon "why are you considering de-escalating treatment intensity for your individual patient?"
The OS benefit of TMZ in the original Stupp/Hegi report showed an HR of 0.69, p value of 0.06 for unmethylated patients, with median OS 11.8 mo for R...

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Neurology · Hartford Healthcare Cancer Institute
Answered on

I agree with the detailed reply by Dr. @Dr. First Last.

I would add that in the Hegi NEJM 2005 article, <2% of unmethylated patients treated with RT alone survived 2 years, while 13.8% unmethylated patients treated with RT + TMZ were alive at 2 years. Although this proportion is far less than the 46%...

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