This site is intended for healthcare professionals

Go to /sign-in page

You can view 5 more pages before signing in

Glioma

Last reviewed dd mmm yyyy. Last edited dd mmm yyyy

Authoring team

The group of brain tumours called gliomas includes:

  • astrocytomas
  • glioblastoma multiforme
  • oligodendrogliomas
  • ependymomas

They are the most common primary tumour of the cerebral hemisphere in adults and children. They are usually highly malignant and carry a poor prognosis. The vast majority - approximately 90% - occur in either the frontal, parietal or temporal lobe. Other possible sites include the thalamus, corpus callosum or occipital lobe.

  • gliomas are graded according to their likely rate of growth, from grade 1 (slowest growing) to grade 4 (fastest growing)
    • grade 3 and 4 gliomas are considered high-grade gliomas
    • grade 3 gliomas include anaplastic astrocytoma, anaplastic ependymoma, anaplastic oligodendroglioma and anaplastic oligoastrocytoma
    • grade 4 gliomas are usually glioblastoma multiforme (GBM)

  • symptoms of high-grade glioma depend on the size, location and degree of infiltration of the tumour
    • possible symptoms include headache, nausea, vomiting, seizures, visual disturbance, speech and language problems, and changes in cognitive and/or functional ability

  • diagnosis of high-grade glioma is provisionally made through a computed tomography (CT) scan or MRI
    • diagnosis is then confirmed and the tumour classified histologically, either at the time of surgical resection or by a single-event biopsy if surgery is not possible

  • treatment usually consists of surgical resection where possible, followed by radiotherapy
    • surgery may achieve either complete resection or partial resection of the tumour
    • radiotherapy has been demonstrated to prolong survival and is usually recommended after surgery
    • adjuvant chemotherapy may be indicated

  • approximately 30% of adults with high-grade gliomas survive for at least 1 year, and 13% survive for 5 years
    • median survival of patients with anaplastic astrocytoma is around 2-3 years, and that of patients with GBM is approximately 1 year
    • age, performance status and tumour histology are indicators of pretreatment prognosis
      • patients with high-grade gliomas have a better prognosis if they are younger, have a better performance status, or have a grade 3 tumour

Notes:

  • brain tumours account for fewer than 2% of all primary cancers.

Reference:

  1. NICE (June 2007). Carmustine implants and temozolomide for the treatment of newly diagnosed high-grade glioma
  2. NICE (July 2018). Brain tumours (primary) and brain metastases in adults

Related pages

Create an account to add page annotations

Add information to this page that would be handy to have on hand during a consultation, such as a web address or phone number. This information will always be displayed when you visit this page