| Summary: | <i>Background and objective:</i> Despite recent advances in treatment, glioblastoma (GBM) remains the most lethal and aggressive brain tumor. A continuous search for a reliable molecular marker establishes the methylation status of the O6-methylguanine-DNA methyltransferase (<i>MGMT</i>) gene promoter as a key prognostic factor in primary glioblastoma. The aim of our study was to screen Serbian patients with primary glioblastoma for an <i>MGMT</i> promoter hypermethylation and to evaluate its associations with overall survival (OS) and sensitivity to temozolomide (TMZ) treatment. <i>Materials and methods:</i> A cohort of 30 Serbian primary glioblastoma patients treated with radiation therapy and chemotherapy were analyzed for <i>MGMT</i> promoter methylation and correlated with clinical data. <i>Results:</i> <i>MGMT</i> methylation status was determined in 25 out of 30 primary glioblastomas by methylation-specific PCR (MSP). <i>MGMT</i> promoter hypermethylation was detected in 12 out of 25 patients (48%). The level of <i>MGMT</i> promoter methylation did not correlate with patients’ gender (<i>p</i> = 0.409), age (<i>p</i> = 0.536), and OS (<i>p</i> = 0.394). Treatment with TMZ significantly prolonged the median survival of a patient (from 5 to 15 months; <i>p</i> < 0.001). <i>Conclusions:</i> Due to a small cohort of primary GBM patients, our study is not sufficient for definitive conclusions regarding the prognostic value of <i>MGMT</i> methylation for the Serbian population. Our preliminary data suggest a lack of association between <i>MGMT</i> promoter methylation and overall survival and a significant correlation of TMZ treatment with overall survival. Further population-based studies are needed to assess the prognostic value of the <i>MGMT</i> promoter methylation status for patients with primary glioblastoma.
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