Glioblastoma management in a lower middle-income country: Nationwide study of compliance with standard care protocols and survival outcomes in Ukraine

Abstract

Abstract Background The effective treatment of high-grade gliomas is a complex problem that requires ubiquitous implementation of sophisticated therapy protocols. The present study aimed to perform population-based analysis of glioblastoma management in lower-middle-income countries. Methods The National Cancer Registry of Ukraine was screened for the records of adult patients with primary glioblastomas diagnosed in 2015–2019. Survival analysis was performed using Kaplan–Meier method and a multivariable Cox model. Results A total of 2973 adult patients with histologically confirmed glioblastoma were included in the study. Mean age of patients was 55.6 ± 11.4 years, males slightly prevailed—1541 (51.8%) cases. The completed clinical protocol including surgery followed by chemoradiotherapy was applied only in 658 (19.0%) patients. The minority of patients 743 (25.0%) were treated at the academic medical centers, where patients were more likely to receive combined treatment 70.1% compared with 57.9% (P  = .0001) at the community hospitals. The overall median survival was 10.6 ± 0.2 months, and the 2-year survival rate was 17%. The number of utilized treatment modalities contributed to better survival rates and was associated with lower hazard ratio: Protocol with 2 modalities — 0.62 (P = .0001), 3 modalities — 0.48 (P = .0001). Conclusions The management of glioblastoma in lower-middle-income countries is characterized by insufficient availability of treatment in academic medical centers and low rates of advanced therapy application. Survival analysis showed similar prognostic risk factors and outcomes compared with high-income countries.