> After the standard of care treatment (which hasn't changed in 10 years)
A lot has changed in 10 years for the 'standard of care' conventional treatments (RT + TMZ) although most active-treatment GBM cases will actually be on some experimental therapy/clinical trial.
In fact, the WHO classification was only recently updated (2021) as what we were calling GBM included different types of gliomas with very different prognostic implications.
Unfortunately, as you allude to, despite several advancements prognosis has only marginally improved over 10 years. The main issue is that these patients almost always present with symptoms (like seizures) by which point curative intent ablative therapies (radiation or surgery) are no longer possible due to intolerable side effects.
> waiting for the inevitable recurrence
It's more progression than recurrence, there is (essentially) always residual disease with GBM even after radiotherapy/surgery which is one of the main reasons it remains so fatal (~6-9 months). Because of the blood-brain barrier chemotherapeutic options are also very limited.
A lot has changed in 10 years for the 'standard of care' conventional treatments (RT + TMZ) although most active-treatment GBM cases will actually be on some experimental therapy/clinical trial.
In fact, the WHO classification was only recently updated (2021) as what we were calling GBM included different types of gliomas with very different prognostic implications.
Unfortunately, as you allude to, despite several advancements prognosis has only marginally improved over 10 years. The main issue is that these patients almost always present with symptoms (like seizures) by which point curative intent ablative therapies (radiation or surgery) are no longer possible due to intolerable side effects.
> waiting for the inevitable recurrence
It's more progression than recurrence, there is (essentially) always residual disease with GBM even after radiotherapy/surgery which is one of the main reasons it remains so fatal (~6-9 months). Because of the blood-brain barrier chemotherapeutic options are also very limited.