How long can you live with glioma?

  The length of time a glioma patient can live cannot be generalized. It depends on the severity of the patient’s condition, treatment and underlying health status, and should be analyzed on a case-by-case basis.  Generally speaking, after active and comprehensive treatment, glioma patients can obtain significant improvement in their discomfort symptoms, and some patients’ survival can be prolonged, and a small number of patients can even be cured without affecting their normal life expectancy. However, depending on the severity of the patient’s condition, from mild to severe, gliomas are often clinically classified into four types: low-grade glioma, mesenchymal glioma and glioblastoma. The median survival period for patients with low-grade glioma is about 8-10 years; for patients with mesenchymal glioma, the median survival period is 3-4 years; and for patients with glioblastoma, the median survival period is between 1 and 1.5 years. Patients with glioblastoma have a median survival of one to one and a half years. If treatment is effective, survival can be extended. If the disease deteriorates severely and is not treated aggressively, the survival period may be only a few months.  Therefore, patients with glioma should go to the hospital as soon as possible to get a clear diagnosis and actively take comprehensive treatment, including surgery, radiotherapy, chemotherapy, and immunotherapy, etc. Although these treatments cannot completely stop the development of the tumor, they can greatly improve the patient’s symptoms, delay recurrence, and prolong survival.