[Indication and results of radiation therapy in the treatment of astrocytomas (author's transl)]

The course of 77 patients with well-differentiated or anaplastic astrocytoma after treatment with resection and radiotherapy or radiotherapy after biopsy during the years 1954--1978 at the University hospital at Zurich is analyzed. The ten-year survival rate in patients with well-differentiated astrocytoma is about 30%. About 15% of the patients with anaplastic astrocytoma are living after 5 years, but there is no 10-year survivor in this group. Patients with mixed glioma (astrocytoma plus oligodendroglioma) show the same survival rate as patients with well-differentiated astrocytoma. Analysis of tumor dose and the size of the irradiated volume shows only in patients with anaplastic astrocytoma a trend to better survival rate after doses of at least 5000 rd in 5 weeks and irradiation fields larger than 200 cm2. In accordance with published reports, the survival rate in patients with gemistocytic astrocytoma is lower than in the other cases.