Treatment of glioblastoma in Greenlandic patients

ABSTRACTGlioblastoma (GBM), WHO grade IV, is the most common primary malignant brain tumour among adults with a devastating overall survival of 14–22 months. Standard treatment of GBM includes maximum safe resection, radiotherapy plus concomitant and adjuvant temozolomide (TMZ), given over a period...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:International Journal of Circumpolar Health
Main Authors: Simone Frandsen, Alice Juhl Pedersen, Ole Gredal, Søren Møller, Uka Wilhjelm Geissler, Dorte Schou Nørøxe
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Taylor & Francis Group 2023
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Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1080/22423982.2023.2285077
https://doaj.org/article/e4a1520eaa1747a3a180ecf3576ad7c6
Description
Summary:ABSTRACTGlioblastoma (GBM), WHO grade IV, is the most common primary malignant brain tumour among adults with a devastating overall survival of 14–22 months. Standard treatment of GBM includes maximum safe resection, radiotherapy plus concomitant and adjuvant temozolomide (TMZ), given over a period of approximately 9 months. Treatment and follow-up for Greenlandic patients with GBM are managed at Rigshospitalet (RH), Copenhagen. Greenlandic GBM patients, therefore, travel back and forth to RH, often unaccompanied, and challenged by cognitive failure or other symptoms from their disease and/or treatment. Few Greenlandic patients are diagnosed with GBM annually, but considering the poor prognosis and short remaining lifespan, it would be preferable to limit their travels. TMZ is administrated as capsules. Health personnel at Queen Ingrid’s Hospital (DIH), Nuuk, are trained in treating other oncological diseases and handling side effects. Hence, it could be investigated whether administration of adjuvant TMZ at DIH could be feasible after personnel education as well as economic consideration and compensation, in close collaboration with neuro oncologists at RH. In this article, we describe the Greenlandic cancer treatment, and the typical workflow from diagnosis of GBM to treatment to progression.