In all age groups over age 20, the number of males exceeded the number of females. Peak incidence was from 40 to 70 years. The mean age of these patients was 41 years. Discussion It is accepted that at present the goal of treatment of patients with malignant astrocytoma is to achieve a prolonged survival and to improve the quality of life of the survivors. Twenty-eight percent of our patients survived two years.
Age is recognized to be the most important prognostic factor.
Kaplan-Meier survival curves for patients who were treated by craniotomy and excision and patients who had a burr hole biopsy in the series. Kaplan-Meier survival curves for patients who had radiotherapy and those who did not in the series. A number of previous reports suggest a significant association between the preoperative clinical status and outcome. This was not confirmed by our series. In this series, patients who had a craniotomy and excision had a better survival rate than those who had a biopsy but without significance.