Glioma medical therapy

Treatment for glioma depends on the location and grade. The predominant therapy for glioma is surgical resection. Adjunctive chemotherapy and radiation may be required.^[1]

Treatment for glioma depends on the location and grade. The predominant therapy for glioma is surgical resection. Adjunctive chemotherapy and radiation may be required.^[1]

• Post-operative radiation therapy is often used as an adjunct to surgery in the treatment of high-grade gliomas as it has shown to double the median survival for high-grade gliomas to 37 weeks (versus 17 weeks with surgery alone).
• Radiotherapy may not cure the cancer, but can control the tumor and delay recurrence.
• Targeted three-dimensional conformal radiotherapy is preferred to whole brain radiotherapy.

• Chemotherapy is indicated as adjuvant therapy for glioma.
• Temozolomide (Temodar) is the preferred drug for the treatment of high-grade and recurring low-grade glioma, as it easily penetrates the blood brain barrier.
• Other chemotherapeutic drugs that may be used for the treatment of glioma include:
  • Carmustine
  • Lomustine
  • Vincristine
  • Cisplatin
  • Erlotinib

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