Application of the MRC brain tumour prognostic index to patients with malignant glioma not managed in randomised control trial

Abstract

Although there were some differences in median survival times between the patients in the original MRC studies and the Edinburgh cohort in similar prognostic categories and a tendency to improved two year survivorship in the Edinburgh cohort these differences have arisen because (a) the Edinburgh cohort was accrued about 10 years later than the study has shown that even outside the setting of a prospective controlled trial and with relaxed inclusion criteria the Medical Research Council (MRC) prognostic index is a robust predictor of outcome in patients with malignant glioma. Survival clearly declines as the prognostic index increases. Moreover, the prognostic model can be substantially improved by the addition of histology data, although there is some evidence that this will require complex modelling procedures.