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Presurgical Serum Albumin Levels Predict Survival Time from Glioblastoma Multiforme

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Abstract

To determine whether serum albumin levels, before first surgery, predict time until death, 24 glioblastoma multiforme patients newly diagnosed at Ohio State University and Cleveland Clinic Foundation Hospitals between 1993 and 1995 were followed until 1996. Patients with presurgical serum albumin levels below 3.4 mg/dL survived an average (median) of 62 days (95% confidence interval (CI): 34, 135 days) after surgery. Those with serum albumin levels of at least 3.4 mg/dL survived an average of 494 days (95% CI: 241, 624 days). The association between serum albumin level and time until death persists when adjusted for demographic and treatment variables using Cox proportional hazards regression. Adjusted hazard ratios, by quartile of presurgical serum albumin level, are: 1.0, 1.2, 0.1, 0.1 (P-value for trend test=0.007). In addition to providing a prognostic indicator, presurgical serum albumin levels can be used to evaluate the success of randomization of clinical trials for glioblastoma multiforme therapies. Our findings are consistent with results seen for tumors at other sites. We speculate that our results may be attributable to an association between low serum albumin levels and physiological events associated with angiogenesis.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Epidemiology and Biometrics, School of Public Health, USA

    Judith A. Schwartzbaum, Priya Lal & James L. Fisher

  2. Comprehensive Cancer Center, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, USA

    Judith A. Schwartzbaum

  3. Department of Pathology, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, USA

    Allan Yates

  4. Department of Neurosurgery, College of Medicine and Public Health, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, USA

    Joseph Goodman

  5. Department of Computer and Information Science, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, USA

    Sandra Mamrak

  6. Department of Neurosurgery, Cleveland Clinic Foundation Hospital, Cleveland, Ohio, USA

    Wendi Evanoff & Gene H. Barnett

Authors
  1. Judith A. Schwartzbaum
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  2. Priya Lal
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  3. Wendi Evanoff
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  4. Sandra Mamrak
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  5. Allan Yates
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  6. Gene H. Barnett
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  7. Joseph Goodman
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  8. James L. Fisher
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Schwartzbaum, J.A., Lal, P., Evanoff, W. et al. Presurgical Serum Albumin Levels Predict Survival Time from Glioblastoma Multiforme. J Neurooncol 43, 35–41 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1006269413998

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1006269413998

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