Health-related quality of life and neurocognitive functioning in patients with recurrent glioblastoma treated with intracerebral immune checkpoint inhibition.

PURPOSE: After glioblastoma (GB) recurrence, prognosis is very cumbersome. Therefore, health-related quality of life (HRQoL) and neurocognitive functioning (NCF) have become important endpoints in clinical trials when evaluating novel treatments. We aimed to evaluate the HRQoL and NCF in patients with recurrent glioblastoma (rGB) treated with a combination of surgical intervention (reoperation or biopsy) and intracerebral immune checkpoint inhibition. METHODS: Patients who participated in the trial (N = 23), at a single-center university hospital were included. Data were collected using 3 patient-reported outcome measures (EORTC-QLQ-C30, EORTC-QLQ-BN20, and HADS) and computerized NCF testing. In the responder group, baseline values were compared to results at a 6-month follow-up. Additionally, exploratory analyses compared baseline HRQoL and NCF between responders and non-responders. RESULTS: There were five responders and 18 non-responders. When comparing the mean and individual baseline with follow-up results for the responders, we observed overall a stable to slight clinically relevant improvement of HRQoL in multiple subsets of the questionnaires while maintaining a stable NCF. One patient deteriorated on anxiety and depression symptoms from baseline to follow-up. CONCLUSIONS: In patients that responded to intracerebral immunotherapy in our institutional trial, HRQoL and NCF remained stable over time, suggesting that no detrimental effect on cognitive function or quality of life may be expected with this treatment approach. Furthermore, there seems to be an overall tendency for responders to score better on HRQoL and NCF than non-responders at baseline.

Prevalence of Insomnia and Sleep Habits during the First and Second Wave of COVID-19 in Belgium.

Belgium has one of the highest numbers of COVID-19 cases per 1 million inhabitants. The pandemic has led to significant societal changes with repercussions on sleep and on mental health. We aimed to investigate the effect of the first and the second wave of COVID-19 on the sleep of the Belgian populationWe launched two online questionnaires, one during the first lockdown (7240 respondents) and one during the second (3240 respondents), to test differences in self-reported clinical insomnia (as measured by the Insomnia Severity Index) and sleep habits during the two lockdowns in comparison with the pre-COVID period. The number of persons with clinical insomnia rose during the first lockdown (19.22%) and further during the second (28.91%) in comparison with pre-lockdown (7.04-7.66%). Bed and rise times were delayed and there was an increased time in bed and sleep onset latency. There was further a decrease in total sleep time and in sleep efficiency during both confinements. The prevalence of clinical insomnia quadrupled during the second wave in comparison with the pre-lockdown situation. Sleep habits were most altered in the younger population, indicating a greater risk for this group to develop a sleep-wake rhythm disorder.