Oligoastrocytoma Level 3

Last August, my husband, age 48, was diagnosed with an Oligoastrocytoma Level 3, with a little Level 4.. He had an awake crainiotomy to remove as much of the tumor as possible from his right parietal lobe. The surgeon thought he was able to get most all of the tumor out. He was treated with radiation for 7 weeks and 42 days of Temodar. Now he is on monthly doses of Temodar 5 days a month.

His chromosomes were tested, and he has intact 1P and 19Q chromosomes, which means that his tumor is likely to be more resistant to radiation and Temodar and so his prognosis is significantly worse than for someone who did not have these chromosomes intact. It was explained to us that with the intact chromosomes, the tumor will act more like an anaplastic astrocytoma that an oligodendroma. Meaning it will grow faster and behave more aggresively as it grows.

At this time, he is getting MRI's every 2 months, and so far they haven't seen any new tumor growth.  The contrast is still showing up on the MRI, which could mean there is more maligmant tumor there, or it could be contrast around the surgical site which will fade away by the summer.  At this time, we just don't know.  He is doing very well on the Temodar.  He has no nausea, but he sleeps a lot.

 I am interested in finding out how quickly an oligoastocytoma is likely to reccur.  I can't find any information on the internet about it other than the 2-5 year median survival stuff.  My husband is convinced that the tumor is gone and is never coming back...and I mean 1000% absolutely coinvinced.  I have many doubts, although I hope he is right.  Has anyone ever heard of a level 3-4 malignant oligoastrocytoma just not coming back?

Your husband's situation is a bit similar to my wife's. She was diagnosed at age 32 back in February of '07 after having a focal seizure. A ER CAT scan revealed a mass that was later surgically removed. Three separate pathology reports confirmed it was an Anaplastic Astrocytoma, Grade III with a MIB of 13%. They treated it aggressively with 6 weeks of IMRT radiation concurrent with Temodar. Then after a delay of some 9 months due to surgical complications, she began the 5/23 therapy this past February. My wife gets her MRI scans every two months as well. That both reassures me and worries me. Her most recent scan was a week ago this Tuesday and it was again clear, but the FLAIR scan continues to show a bright rim around the surgical margin. Our doctor, whom I respect very much explained at some length about how that is a post-surgical gliosis signal that he does not consider any kind of tumor activity. He points out where he checks to see if any blood vessel signature is forming below the cavity and it is also all clear. My wife also believes that the tumor is 1000% gone. Like you, and I believe a lot of caregivers out there, I am also very cautiously optimistic. I think that speaks to how traumatic a journey the initial diagnosis/surgery/treatment can be on the caregiver. It's hard not to worry I know. In terms of the data you seek, I have looked for similar information in the past with little luck. I tend to believe that with the recent developments with drugs like Avastin and some of the dendritic vaccine trials, that patients with grade III tumors stand better chances even if standard of care frontline treatments do not work, better than median data from 3 or more years ago might suggest. This is of course a wishful line of thought that I hope is based on some actual progress happening in the fight against this disease.