Gliomes du sujet âgé

The growing incidence of malignant gliomas in the elderly population encourages developing specific schedules of treatment for this population. Increasing age is one of the most important negative prognostic factors in gliomas, justifying until recently a “nihilistic” approach in this population. However, this approach is progressively changing towards more active strategies, because prospective randomized studies have recently established the benefit of radiotherapy in older patients suffering from malignant gliomas. The benefits of chemotherapy and surgery are still under evaluation in this population. Initial performance status, quality of life, concomitant pathologies, as well as the willingness of the patient and his/her caregivers will also obviously be the key to the therapeutic decision.