20 juli 2011: Bron: Neurol Res. 2011 Sep;33(7):759-64.

Camoustine wafers, een vorm van time released chemo via een inwendig ingebrachte "ballon", zorgt voor een significant langere overleving bij oudere mensen (65 jaar of ouder) met een hersentumor, glioblastoom multiforme. Dit blijkt uit een vergelijkende studie bij 90 patienten met een glioblastoom multiforme. De mediane overleviong steeg van 5,5 maand naar 8,9 maanden. Dus bijna een verdubbeling van de overlevingstijd, al blijft die nog steeds dramatisch kort. Al eerder werden goede resultaten met deze manier van chemo toedienen gepubliceerd. Zie in linkerkolom voor andere studies. Nadeel blijven de ernstige bijwerkingen die optreden, ook bij deze manier van chemo toedienen. Als u hier klikt kunt u een volledig studierapport inzien dat is gepubliceerd in 2009 bij nieuw gediagnosteerde hersentumoren en behandeld met camoustine wafers. Hier het abstract van de nieuwste studie:

Older patients with GBM may benefit from carmustine wafers. The survival for older patients who received carmustine wafers is significantly longer than matched patients who did not receive carmustine wafers

Neurol Res. 2011 Sep;33(7):759-64.

The efficacy of carmustine wafers for older patients with glioblastoma multiforme: prolonging survival.

Chaichana KL, Zaidi H, Pendleton C, McGirt MJ, Grossman R, Weingart JD, Olivi A, Quiñones-Hinojosa A, Brem H.

Source

Department of Neurosurgery, The Johns Hopkins Neuro-Oncology Surgical Outcomes Research Laboratory, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA.

Abstract

OBJECTIVE:

Peak incidence of glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) occurs in individuals aged 65 years and older. The goal was to evaluate the efficacy of carmustine wafers in prolonging survival for older GBM patients.

METHODS:

One hundred and thirty-three consecutive patients aged 65 years and older who underwent surgery for an intracranial primary (de novo) GBM from 1997-2007 were retrospectively reviewed. Among these 133 patients, 45 patients with carmustine wafer implantation were matched with 45 patients without implantation. These groups were matched for factors consistently shown to be associated with survival (age, Karnofsky performance scale, extent of resection, radiation therapy, and temozolomide). Survival was expressed as estimated Kaplan-Meier plots, and log-rank analysis was used to compare survival curves. Variables with P<0·05 were considered statistically significant.

RESULTS:

The mean (±standard deviation) age of the cohort was 73±5 years, and the median survival of the entire cohort was 5·9 months. Among patients with and without carmustine wafers, there were no significant differences in pre- and peri-operative variables. However, patients with carmustine wafers demonstrated prolonged survival as compared to patients without wafers. The median survival for patients with carmustine wafers was 8·7 months, while median survival for patients without wafers was 5·5 months (P=0·007). Likewise, in subgroup analysis, patients older than 70 years (P=0·0003) and 75 years (P=0·04) who had carmustine wafers had significantly longer survival than matched patients without wafers.

DISCUSSION:

Older patients with GBM may benefit from carmustine wafers. The survival for older patients who received carmustine wafers is significantly longer than matched patients who did not receive carmustine wafers.