Tumor Volume Changes During and After Temozolomide Treatment for Newly Diagnosed Higher-Grade Glioma (III and IV)

Background A standard post-concomitant radiochemotherapy involving adjuvant temozolomide (TMZ) was stopped after 6 cycles for high-grade gliomas (HGG). Several studies demonstrated that prolonged TMZ treatment increased survival for these patients. Methods This retrospective study aimed to compare changes in tumor volume during and after adjuvant TMZ treatment and overall survival (OS). Results There were 90 patients were administered adjuvant TMZ treatment. Comparing average tumor volume changes during TMZ treatment and after TMZ was stopped, a significant decrease in tumor volume was observed during TMZ treatment in the total patient population, the anaplastic astrocytoma (AA) group, and the glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) group (P ≤ 0.001, P = 0.042, and P = 0.005, respectively). Median overall survival was 78.4 weeks, which was significant regarding the surgical tumor resection rate (r = 0.241; P = 0.04) and total TMZ treatment cycles (r = 0.631; P ≤ 0.001). Conclusions During adjuvant TMZ treatment, tumor volume decreased significantly (P = 0.042, and P = 0.005, respectively) in patients with GBM and AA. Prolonged TMZ administration improved OS, without increased toxicity.