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A New Standard

John W. Henson, MD

Arch Neurol. 2006;63:337-341.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text and any section headings.

INTRODUCTION

Glioblastoma multiforme is one of the most lethal and treatment-resistant of human tumors. Among the therapeutic triad of surgery, radiation therapy, and chemotherapy, only radiation therapy has been shown to improve survival.¹ Despite 30 years of intensive efforts to find an effective chemotherapy regimen for glioblastoma multiforme, the median survival of 12 to 15 months has not changed appreciably since the introduction of radiation therapy.

This dire circumstance has finally begun to change with the recent publication of a positive phase 3 trial comparing radiation therapy (RT) alone with RT with concurrent and adjuvant temozolomide chemotherapy in patients with newly diagnosed glioblastoma multiforme (GBM).² This study was conducted in Europe and Canada under the direction of the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) and the National Cancer Institute of Canada (NCIC), and is the first to demonstrate a meaningful survival effect from chemotherapy . . . [Full Text of this Article]

THE CLINICAL PROBLEM OF GBM

CONVENTIONAL THERAPY FOR GBM

THE POSITIVE PHASE 3 EORTC/NCIC TRIAL

IMPLICATIONS OF THE PHASE 3 STUDY

AUTHOR INFORMATION

Author Affiliations: Stephen E. and Catherine Pappas Center for Neuro-Oncology, Neurology Service, and Division of Neuroradiology, Department of Radiology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston; Harvard Medical School, Boston, Mass.