Global trends in survival from astrocytic tumours in adolescents and young adults: a systematic review

Brain tumors represent an important cause of cancer-related death in adolescents and young adults. Most are diagnosed in low-income and middle-income countries. We aimed to conduct the first, to our knowledge, systematic review of time trends and geographical variation in survival in this age group. We included observational studies describing population-based survival from astrocytic tumors in patients aged 15-39 years. We queried 6 electronic databases from database inception to December 31, 2019. Among 5640 retrieved records, 20 studies fulfilled the inclusion criteria. All but 1 study focused on high-income countries. Five-year survival from astrocytoma (broad morphology group) mostly varied between 48.0% and 71.0% (1973-2004) without clear trends or geographic differences. Adolescents with astrocytoma had better outcomes than young adults, but survival values were similar when nonmalignant tumors were excluded. During 2002-2007, 5-year survival for World Health Organization grade I-II tumors was in the range of 72.6%-89.1% in England, Germany, and the United States but lower in Southeastern Europe (59.0%). Five-year survival for anaplastic astrocytoma varied between 39.6% and 55.4% (2002-2007). Five-year survival from glioblastoma was in the range of 14.2%-23.1% (1991-2009). Survival from astrocytic tumors remained somewhat steady over time, with little change between 1973 and 2009. Survival disparities were difficult to examine, because nearly all the studies were conducted in affluent countries. Studies often adopted the International Classification of Childhood Cancer, which, however, did not allow to accurately describe variation in survival. Larger studies are warranted, including underrepresented populations and providing more recent survival estimates.