Neutron radiation therapy in the treatment of recurrent high-grade glioma

The main objective of this study was to determine the place and role of neutron radiation therapy in the treatment of patients with recurrent high-grade glioma. Material and Methods. Treatment outcomes were analyzed in 40 patients who were treated at Oncology Center (Chelyabinsk) and Center for Neutron Therapy (Snezhinsk) from 2005 to 2015. The median age of patients was 45 years. The male to female ratio was 1:1. Recurrent glioblastoma was diagnosed in 19 patients, and anaplastic astrocytoma was revealed in 21 patients. Twenty patients underwent neutron therapy alone,and 20 patients underwent combined neutron-photon radiation therapy. The median overall survival time for all patients with recurrent high-grade glioma was 50 months. The 1-year, 2-year and 3-year survival rates were 94.1 %, 77.8 % and 66.7 % respectively. Results. The median survival time after treatment for relapse was 27 months. The main prognostic factors affecting the treatment outcomes were the age of the patients, histological verification and time to relapse. The method-specific overall survival rate was significantly higher in patients who underwent combined neutron-photon radiation therapy than in patients who underwent neutron therapy alone (48 months versus 20 months, p=0.05).