Abstract
BACKGROUND: EORTC study 26091 showed that addition of bevacizumab (BEV) to temozolomide (TMZ) does not improve overall survival (OS) or progression-free survival (PFS) in recurrent grade II and III 1p/19q intact gliomas; regardless of isocitrate dehydrogenase (IDH) mutational status. This abstract reports the neurocognitive functioning (NCF) outcomes. METHODS: NCF was evaluated before randomization and at every 12 weeks during treatment using Hopkins Verbal Learning Test (Free Recall, Delayed Recall, and Delayed Recognition), Trail Making Test (TMT A/B); and Controlled Oral Word Association Test (COWA). RESULTS: 148/155 patients had at least one NCF assessment. Compliance was 91.5% at baseline and dropped to 61.9% at week 60. Primary analysis (at 5% significance level) compared NCF at the last disease assessment before or at week 60 in patients who had at least one NCF assessment after baseline. Patients in the temozolomide+bevacizumab arm did not differ from patients in the temozolomide only arm. Except for Delayed Recognition, all NCF outcomes were positively associated with WHO performance status. TMT A (p=0.03), TMT B (p=0.006) and COWA (p<0.0001) were significantly worse in patients receiving steroids at study entry. Furthermore, delayed recognition was worse in patients with larger tumors (>26.5 vs <=26.5 mm; p=0.04). Memory performance was poorer in patients with tumors in the left hemisphere (Free Recall; p=0.0002), Delayed Recall; p<0.0001, Delayed Recognition; p=0.004). Except for Free Recall and Delayed Recognition, all other baseline raw scores were associated with OS in univariate analyses. In a multivariate Cox regression model, TMT B and tumor size were identified as independent OS prognostic factors while baseline WHO performance status and steroids use were not included. CONCLUSION: At the group level patients in the temozolomide+bevacizumab arm do not differ from patients with temozolomide only, individual patients’ verbal memory capacity might negatively be affected by tumor volume and tumor location.