Clinical Efficacy of Tumor Treating Fields for Newly Diagnosed Glioblastoma

Abstract

Background/aim: Whether adding tumor treating fields (TTF) to the Stupp protocol increases survival for glioblastoma (GBM) patients in routine clinical care remains unknown.

Patients and methods: We retrospectively identified adult patients with newly diagnosed GBM (n=104) treated with the Stupp protocol or TTF at our Institution.

Results: Thirty-six percent (37/104) of patients received TTF in conjunction with the Stupp protocol and these patients had increased 6-month (p=0.006) and 1-year (p=0.170), but not 2-year survival rates compared to the 67-patients who received Stupp alone. The improvement of survival rate at 6-month was further confirmed by a modified Poisson model (p=0.010). However, we did not observe any improvement in overall survival (OS) with a Cox model.

Conclusion: While adding TTF to the Stupp protocol appeared to benefit patients with newly diagnosed GBM, this effect was mild and may be largely due to selection bias.

Keywords: Tumor treating fields; newly diagnosed glioblastoma; selection bias; survival; the Stupp protocol.