A scan check after radiation may predict how glioblastoma will go
Original title: Prognostic impact of RANO resect group classification post-chemoradiotherapy in IDH-wildtype glioblastoma.
How far along is this research?
- Lab cells
- Animals
- Review
- Tested in people
This was tested in people. That is the most reliable kind of research we share.
This was a look back at scans from patients already treated, not a test of a new treatment.
The short version
Doctors looked at brain scans taken after radiation and chemo, and found the scans gave a better picture of how patients were likely to do.
What was studied. Researchers looked back at the records of 105 people with glioblastoma: The fastest-growing type of glioma (grade 4). Treatment usually starts soon after diagnosis: surgery first, then radiation and chemotherapy. See the glossary who had surgery and then chemotherapy with radiation. They measured how much tumor and swelling showed up on MRI scans, and sorted patients into groups using a system called RANO resect.
What they found. When patients were sorted using scans taken after chemo and radiation, the groups lined up better with how long people lived than when scans taken right after surgery were used. Only 1 patient fit the best group right after surgery, but 10 fit it after chemo and radiation. Among 49 patients in the two best groups, those whose scan abnormality shrank by at least 80% lived longer.
What this means, and what it doesn't
What it could mean: The timing of the scan matters. A scan done after chemo and radiation may tell your care team more about what to expect than a scan done right after surgery. It may also help sort out swelling and healing from surgery, which can look like tumor on early scans.
What it doesn't mean: This is not a treatment, and it is not a cure. It does not change the drugs or radiation you get. This was a look back at records from one group of patients, not a trial testing something new. Being in a better scan group is not a promise about any one person. Doctors would need larger studies before this becomes a standard way to judge scans.
Source: PubMed, July 31, 2026 · Read the original
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