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Background and Purpose Glioblastoma is the most is the poorest prognosis tumor of all carcinomas. Various factors contribute to deterioration for glioblastoma such as age, KPS, and surgical removal level. The most important factors for poor prognosis are that half of patients with glioblastoma have a KPS ≤ 70 at the start of treatment because glioblastoma progresses rapidly. There have been no comprehensive reports on the trends in visits and time to initiation of treatment for patients with glioblastoma. We analyzed the actual clinical course of malignant brain tumor patients using the receipt database with the aim of raising awareness of prompt diagnosis and treatment. Methods Because this study included patient-visit transitions, we utilized receipt data from JMDC Inc., which can be tracked through changes of medical facilities. We analyzed for data for the period January 1, 2005, to March 31, 2022. Results and Discussion The study included 493 patients with malignant neoplasms of brain, aged 18 years or older, who underwent surgery and received radiation or temozolomide. The medical departments that visited for the first time before surgery were general internal medicine, neurosurgery, followed by ophthalmologist, orthopedics, and otolaryngology. The period from the date of the first visit to surgery was 21 days for neurosurgery and 46 days for general internal medicine. The mean time from MRI to surgery was 11 days when surgery was performed at the MRI site, and 22 days when the patient was referred to another hospital after MRI. This study clarified the actual situation when patients with malignant brain tumors visit a department besides neurosurgery. In order to facilitate prompt diagnosis and treatment, it is necessary to raise awareness of the disease among the departments where patients are likely to visit for the first time. |
