SEOM clinical guideline for management of adult medulloblastoma (2020).

Recent advances in molecular profiling, have reclassified medulloblastoma, an undifferentiated tumor of the posterior fossa, in at least four diseases, each one with differences in prognosis, epidemiology and sensibility to different treatments. The recommended management of a lesion with radiological characteristics suggestive of MB includes maximum safe resection followed by a post-surgical MR < 48 h, LCR cytology and MR of the neuroaxis. Prognostic factors, such as presence of a residual tumor volume > 1.5 cm2, presence of micro- or macroscopic dissemination, and age > 3 years as well as pathological (presence of anaplastic or large cell features) and molecular findings (group, 4, 3 or p53 SHH mutated subgroup) determine the risk of relapse and should guide adjuvant management. Although there is evidence that both high-risk patients and to a lesser degree, standard-risk patients benefit from adjuvant craneoespinal radiation followed by consolidation chemotherapy, tolerability is a concern in adult patients, leading invariably to dose reductions. Treatment after relapse is to be considered palliative and inclusion on clinical trials, focusing on the molecular alterations that define each subgroup, should be encouraged. Selected patients can benefit from surgical rescue or targeted radiation or high-dose chemotherapy followed by autologous self-transplant. Even in patients that are cured by chemorradiation presence of significant sequelae is common and patients must undergo lifelong follow-up.

Indirect costs associated with glioblastoma: Experience at one hospital. / Costes indirectos asociados al glioblastoma. Experiencia en un centro.

INTRODUCTION: Glioblastoma is the most common primary brain tumour. Despite advances in treatment, its prognosis remains dismal, with a mean survival time of about 14 months. Many articles have addressed direct costs, those associated with the diagnosis and treatment of the disease. Indirect costs, those associated with loss of productivity due to the disease, have seldom been described. MATERIAL AND METHOD: We conducted a retrospective study in patients diagnosed with glioblastoma at Hospital Universitario Donostia between January 1, 2010 and December 31, 2013. We collected demographics, data regarding the treatment received, and survival times. We calculated the indirect costs with the human capital approach, adjusting the mean salaries of comparable individuals by sex and age and obtaining mortality data for the general population from the Spanish National Statistics Institute. Past salaries were updated to 2015 euros according to the annual inflation rate and we applied a discount of 3.5% compounded yearly to future salaries. RESULTS: We reviewed the records of 99 patients: 46 women (mean age 63.53) and 53 men (mean age 59.94); 29 patients underwent a biopsy and the remaining 70 underwent excisional surgery. Mean survival was 18.092 months for the whole series. The total indirect cost for the series was €11 080 762 (2015). Mean indirect cost per patient was €111 926 (2015). DISCUSSION: Although glioblastoma is a relatively uncommon type of tumour, accounting for only 4% of all cancers, its poor prognosis and potential sequelae generate disproportionately large morbidity and mortality rates which translate to high indirect costs. Clinicians should be aware of the societal impact of glioblastoma and indirect costs should be taken into account when cost effectiveness studies are performed to better illustrate the overall consequences of this disease.

Phase II clinical trial of cisplatin, 5-fluorouracil, and ifosfamide as treatment for advanced locoregional head and neck carcinoma.

The association of ifosfamide with cisplatin and 5-fluorouracil for the management of advanced squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck was assessed in this trial. Ifosfamide was given initially to 12 patients in combination with standard fixed doses of cisplatin and 5-fluorouracil, at 1,000 mg/m2 daily on days 2, 3, and 4. Two patients died of neutropenia and severe infection, and the authors recruited seven more patients who were treated with a lower dose of ifosfamide, 800 mg/m2 daily on days 2, 3, and 4. One of the seven patients died of neutropenia and severe infection. Three complete remission were observed in 18 patients evaluable for efficacy. The study was closed early because of the severe toxicity profile demonstrated by this scheme and because of no clear advantage in efficacy versus cisplatin plus 5-fluorouracil combinations.