Outcome of patients with malignant glioma and synchronous or metachronous non-central nervous system primary neoplasms

Patients with malignant glioma who are also diagnosed with one or more primary neoplasms of other organs present a unique challenge in both determining prognosis and clinical management. The overlapping impact of the malignancies and their treatment result in confounding variables that may adversely affect optimal management of such patients. Additionally, the glioma-related characteristics and survival outcome of these patients is not well-defined. In this retrospective chart and data review from our longitudinal database, we identified patients with malignant glioma including anaplastic glioma and glioblastoma, diagnosed between January 2005 and June 2011, who were also diagnosed with other non-CNS primary neoplasms. Patients with known genetic syndromes were excluded. The data was analyzed to determine the clinical characteristics and glioma-related survival. A total of 204 patients with malignant glioma (165 glioblastoma and 39 anaplastic glioma) were identified. There was no significant difference in the overall survival or progression-free survival between patients with malignant glioma plus non-CNS primary neoplasm when compared with patients with malignant glioma only. In patients with glioblastoma and non-CNS malignancy, the duration between diagnosis of glioblastoma and non-CNS neoplasms did not significantly alter glioma-related survival. Patients with malignant glioma who were diagnosed with other non-CNS malignancy have survival outcome comparable to those with malignant glioma only. The duration between diagnosis of glioblastoma and diagnosis of non-CNS neoplasms did not affect survival. Further prospective studies specifically addressing survival and molecular characteristics of patients with malignant glioma plus non-CNS cancers are recommended.