Standard Treatment

If you were recently diagnosed with glioblastoma multiforme and have not yet begun most treatment, please read Upon Diagnosis before continuing this section.

Standard treatment for a glioblastoma brain tumor usually follows a standardized, one-size-fits-all set of treatments given in chronological order. Glioblastomas are highly heterogeneous person to person, and better cancer centers will offer more tailored treatment plans. Click on the image to the right to view a flow chart of the current standard treatment, its general timeframe and the corresponding Karnofsky Performance Status.

Standard treatment leaves much to be desired. Mean overall survival for the standard treatment is about 1 year from diagnosis. Your treatment goal should be to improve these odds. Many factors may help improve individual odds of surviving glioblastoma and these factors are discussed in Improving Standard Treatment.

To help better understand standard glioblastoma treatment, the primary procedures of the treatment are described in greater detail below:

Much of this protocol was established in a landmark study published in 2005 in the New England Journal of Medicine by Dr. Roger Stupp and an international team of researchers. You can read the entire Stupp paper on the NEJM web site.