Predictors of survival after second surgery for recurrent glioblastoma tumours

Abstract

Background: The impact of second surgery on recurrence remains unclear, with few definitive studies to date. This study sought to identify major predictors of survival after second surgery. Methods: A retrospective chart review was conducted for 21 patients who underwent elective surgery for GBM recurrence, at our institution, in the past 6 years. Kaplan Meier was applied to determine the significance of the variables on survival time. The Mann Whitney U test was used to determine whether the median survival time differed significantly between groups, for the factors of interest. Results: Among variables examined, age, less than ≥50 (P=0.04) was significant. Patients younger than 50, had a median survival period of 11.8 months, while patients, age 50 or older, survived a median time of 4.2 months. Though chemotherapy after reoperation was not found to statistically significantly extend survival time on Kaplan-Meier (P=0.08), the median survival time was found to be significantly higher in patients that received chemotherapy (10.6 months) after reoperation, compared with those who did not (3.9 months), using the Mann Whitney U test (P=0.05). Conclusions: These results confirm that younger patients survive longer after second surgery and indicate that a second round of chemotherapy may prolong survival.