Background: IDH-wildtype glioblastoma is the most common malignant primary brain tumour in adults. As there is limited information on prognostic factors outside of clinical trials; thus, we conducted a retrospective study to characterise the glioblastoma population at our centre. Methods: Demographic, tumour molecular profiles, treatment, and survival data were collated for patients diagnosed with glioblastoma at our centre between July 2011 and December 2015. We used multivariate proportional hazard model associations with survival. Results: 490 patients were included; 60% had debulking surgery and 40% biopsy only. Subsequently, 56% had standard chemoradiotherapy, 25% had non-standard chemo/radio-therapy, and 19% had no further treatment. Overall survival was 9.2 months. In the multivariate analysis, longer survival was associated with debulking surgery vs. biopsy alone (14.9 vs. 8 months) (HR 0.54 [95% CI 0.41–0.70]), subsequent treatment after diagnosis (HR 0.12 [0.08–0.16]) (standard chemoradiotherapy [16.9 months] vs. non-standard regimens [9.2 months] vs. none [2.0 months]), tumour MGMT promotor methylation (HR 0.71 [0.58–0.87]), and younger age (hazard ratio vs. age < 50: 1.70 [1.26–2.30] for ages 50–59; 3.53 [2.65–4.70] for ages 60–69; 4.82 [3.54–6.56] for ages 70+). Conclusions: The median survival for patients with glioblastoma is less than a year. Younger age, debulking surgery, treatment with chemoradiotherapy, and MGMT promotor methylation are independently associated with longer survival.
We describe the outcomes in cancer patients during the initial outbreak of the COVID-19 in Europe from the retrospective, multi-center observational OnCovid study. We identified 204 cancer patients from eight centers in the United Kingdom, Italy, and Spain aged >18 (mean = 69) and diagnosed with COVID-19 between 26 February and 1 April 2020. A total of 127 (62%) were male, 184 (91%) had a diagnosis of solid malignancy, and 103 (51%) had non-metastatic disease. A total of 161 (79%) had >1 co-morbidity. A total of 141 (69%) patients had >1 COVID-19 complication. A total of 36 (19%) were escalated to high-dependency or intensive care. A total of 59 (29%) died, 53 (26%) were discharged, and 92 (45%) were in-hospital survivors. Mortality was higher in patients aged >65 (36% vs. 16%), in those with >2 co-morbidities (40% vs. 18%) and developing >1 complication from COVID-19 (38% vs. 4%, p = 0.004). Multi-variable analyses confirmed age > 65 and >2 co-morbidities to predict for patient mortality independent of tumor stage, active malignancy, or anticancer therapy. During the early outbreak of SARS-CoV-2 infection in Europe co-morbid burden and advancing age predicted for adverse disease course in cancer patients. The ongoing OnCovid study will allow us to compare risks and outcomes in cancer patients between the initial and later stages of the COVID-19 pandemic.