What is the life expectancy?
Even from the classification into grade 4 (highest category) of the WHO classification for brain tumors, it can be deduced that life expectancy in patients with glioblastoma is relatively low. This is mainly due to rapid and displacing growth. The average life expectancy of patients with glioblastoma ranges from a few months to two years.
However, about 5-10% of those affected are still alive 5 years after diagnosis. Life expectancy is highly dependent on the location of the glioblastoma and the stage of the tumor at the time of diagnosis (do not confuse stage with grade!). In addition, the therapy plays a major role: If therapy is completely avoided, life expectancy is only about 2 months on average.
If an operation is performed to remove the tumor tissue, this life expectancy increases to an average of half a year. The combination of surgery and radiation and/or chemotherapy increases life expectancy to about 12 months. However, radiation and chemotherapy naturally also bring considerable side effects with them, which to a certain extent buy a longer life. For this reason, some of those affected deliberately avoid these measures. The possibility of making a more precise prognosis depends on the age of the patient, the type of treatment and the so-called Karnofsky Index (KPS).
Is healing possible?
Chemotherapy is one of the ways to slow down the progression of glioblastoma and thereby increase the life expectancy of the patient. It can be used alone or in addition to radiation therapy and surgery. Commonly used chemotherapy drugs include cytosine abinoside, carmustine or vinblastine.
In addition, a genetic test can be used to find out whether the patient has a certain gene mutation. If this is the case, the chemotherapeutic agent temozolomide can be used, which has proven to be relatively potent in the treatment of glioblastoma. More information about chemotherapy can be found here.
In the recent past, methadone has received much attention as a source of hope in connection with glioblastoma therapy. Scientists hoped that the use of the substance, which is otherwise used to treat opiate addiction, in combination with established chemotherapy drugs would lead to major advances in the treatment of glioblastoma. Recent studies, however, dampen these hopes: In cell culture analyses, no positive effect could be achieved by methadone. For this reason, the general use of methadone in glioblastoma is not recommended and the use of the active substance will be limited to special clinical studies for the time being.
