Malignant gliomas: old and new systemic treatment approaches, brief review

Abstract

Background: Malignant (high-grade) gliomas are rapidly progressive brain tumours with very high morbidity and mortality. Until recently, treatment options for patients with malignant gliomas were limited and mainly the same for all subtypes of malignant gliomas. Treatment included surgery and radiotherapy (RT). Chemotherapy used as adjuvant treatment or at recurrence had a marginal role. Nowadays, treatment of malignant gliomas requires a multidisciplinary approach.Treatment includes surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy. The chosen approach is more complex and individually adjusted. By that, the effect on the survival and quality of life is notable higher.

Conclusion: We provide an overview on systemic treatment of malignant glioma (MG). We include the incidence, pathology, prognosis and diagnosis of the malignant glioma, alltogether with the review of systemic therapeutic approaches.