Quality of life in low-grade gliomas

Abstract

Outcome measures for brain tumor patients have traditionally been confined to survival and radiological response to treatment. The recognition that duration of survival may not be the only goal of treatment has resulted in health-related quality of life (HRQOL) to become an important (secondary) outcome. It is generally acknowledged that the benefits of longer survival due to tumor treatment should be weighed against side effects of treatment which may have a negative impact on the patient's functioning in physical, psychological, and social aspects. For low-grade glioma (LGG) patients, outcome measures should include neurocognitive functioning and severity of epilepsy apart from patient-reported measures such as HRQOL. Since these patients have a relatively extended survival compared to high-grade glioma, and may therefore run the risk of long-term complications due to the tumor and treatment, these outcomes are now considered to be of major importance in clinical trials. From clinical studies we have learned that cognitive deficit and severity of epilepsy in LGG patients have a negative impact on HRQOL.