Addition of Levetiracetam May Improve Survival for Glioblastoma

the Cancer Therapy Advisor take:

Levetiracetam may provide a survival benefit in patients with glioblastoma who receive temozolomide-based chemotherapy, a recent study published online in the journal Cancer has shown.

For the study, researchers identified 103 patients with primary glioblastoma who received comcomitant chemoradiotherapy and adjuvant chemotherapy with temozolomide. Of those, 56% received levetiracetam during temozolomide chemotherapy for at least 3 months.

Results showed that median progression-free survival was 9.4 months (95% CI: 7.5-11.3) among those who took levetiracetam compared with 6.7 months (95% CI: 5.8-7.6) among those who did not receive the drug (P = 0.010). Median overall survival was 25.7 (95% CI: 21.7-29.7) and 16.7 months (95% CI: 12.1-21.3), respectively (P = 0.027).

The findings suggest that levetiracetam may improve survival in this patient population, but the authors note that a randomized study is warranted.

Previous studies have suggested the chemosensitizing effect of levetiracetam, an antiepileptic drug, but data surrounding survival benefit is lacking.