When people have a glioma, their first thought is often, “How long will I live? How can I survive? Doctors can’t jump to conclusions about this life-and-death issue. Moreover, glioma has so many “siblings” with different degrees of severity that the answer can only be found on a case-by-case basis. Generally speaking, the higher the grade of glioma, the more likely it is to recur (see “Glioma siblings have different degrees of severity”). The more thoroughly the tumor is removed, the more it delays recurrence. Grade 1 glioma is the “gentlest” of these brain tumors, as it is not highly malignant and the development of tumor cells is relatively mild. If this low-grade glioma grows in non-functional areas of the brain, such as the frontal brain area and the temporal bone area, it can be completely removed. After surgery, radiotherapy is not necessary, and only regular review and close monitoring are needed to prevent recurrence. However, if the tumor grows in important functional areas of the brain, it cannot be completely removed (if it is completely removed, it will damage important functional areas of the brain, which will lead to serious functional impairment after surgery, such as inability to walk and talk). Since radiation therapy can be targeted to treat the glioma, chemotherapy is not needed for this grade of glioma. Overall, grade 1 gliomas have better outcomes and are usually cured without recurrence. Grade 2 glioma is a low-grade malignant tumor, but is much more powerful than grade 1. If it can be completely removed, it means that the risk level of the tumor is relatively low, and generally no adjuvant radiotherapy is needed, regular review is sufficient, and the average survival is usually around 8~9 years; if it cannot be completely removed, it means that the risk level of the tumor is relatively high, and then adjuvant radiotherapy is needed, nevertheless, the average survival will be shortened to about 3 years. In conclusion, although this grade of glioma is of the same low grade as grade 1 glioma, the degree of risk is different, the recurrence is different, and the life expectancy will be more affected. Grades 3 and 4 are both high-grade gliomas, and are also brain tumors of higher malignancy, and the outcome of their disease progression is not optimistic. For example, even after surgery and post-operative radiotherapy for grade 4 glioblastoma, 70% of patients will relapse within 6 months. Most of the recurrence sites are new lesions, for example, the original tumor grows in the frontal lobe of the brain, but the recurrence may go to other brain areas, even the spinal cord and lumbar spine. Therefore, overall, the average survival period for grade 3 glioma is about 18 months. grade 4 glioma is more aggressive, and the average survival period after surgery + comprehensive radiotherapy is usually about 1 year, and only about 5% of people are still alive by two years. And without surgery, they often only live for two or three months. Although a reasonable choice of surgery and radiotherapy regimen is effective in preventing tumor recurrence, it is also important to pay attention to regular review to monitor the movement of the lesion. If patients wait until they have symptoms such as headache, vomiting, seizure, or even vision loss, it often indicates that the tumor recurrence is very serious, and it is too late for secondary treatment at this time. Therefore, the best way is to have regular checkups, follow-up examinations and regular standardized treatment to prevent the tumor from “resurfacing”.