Treatment of WHO grade 2 and 3 gliomas with potentially favorable survival: is monotherapy obsolete?

Previous central nervous system oncology scans in this publication have discussed management and molecular characterization of low-grade gliomas, treatment strategies for high-grade gliomas in the elderly, emerging treatment options for glioblastoma (GBM), and molecular characterization of gliomas. Similar to trends observed in other oncologic diseases, grading gliomas by their molecular characteristics is emerging as a useful tool for identifying patients with potentially long-term survival after treatment of this disease. These patients present an opportunity to maximize survival through the judicious selection of appropriate therapies and a simultaneous challenge to minimize the long-term sequelae of these treatments. In this oncology scan, we discuss the results from 4 important trials of radiation therapy (RT) and/or chemotherapy in patients with World Health Organization (WHO) grade 2 and 3 gliomas, discussing the impact of monotherapy versus combined-modality treatment in the era of molecular grading of this disease.