Etoposide improves survival in high-grade glioma: a meta-analysis

• Published in: Anticancer research Vol. 33; no. 8; pp. 3307 - 3315
• Main Authors: Leonard, Alexis, Wolff, Johannes E
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Greece 01.08.2013
• Subjects: Brain Neoplasms - drug therapy; Cohort Studies; Demography; Etoposide - therapeutic use; Female; Glioma - drug therapy; Humans; Male; Middle Aged; Survival Analysis; Topoisomerase Inhibitors - therapeutic use; glioblastoma multiforme; irinotecan; teniposide; high-grade glioma; meta-analysis; etoposide; Anaplastic; topotecan
• ISSN: 1791-7530

The purpose of this meta-analysis was to evaluate the therapeutic efficacy of topoisomerase inhibitors in the treatment of high-grade gliomas (HGGs). Using median overall survival (mOS) and survival gain, we compared the efficacy of chemotherapy drugs in a meta-analysis of 624 HGG studies, including 44,850 patients from studies published between 1976 and 2011. Patient cohorts treated with etoposide had significant improvement in mOS (15.66 months vs. 13.27 months, p=0.026, 49 vs. 795 cohorts) and significant survival gain advantage (p=0.022) over cohorts treated without etoposide. In contrast, patient cohorts treated with irinotecan had significantly worse mOS (10.20 vs. 13.55 months, p=0.008, 35 vs. 810 cohorts) and a disadvantage compared to cohorts treated without irinotecan in survival gain analysis. Results from this analysis suggest that etoposide may improve overall survival for patients with HGG, whereas the use of irinotecan might result in inferior outcomes.