Role of early radiotherapy in the treatment of supratentorial WHO Grade II astrocytomas: long-term results of 97 patients.

Object: To determine principal prognostic factors and the effect of timing of radiotherapy (RT) on disease-specific survival (DSS) and progression-free survival (PFS) in WHO Grade II astrocytomas.

Methods: Histologic slides of 166 consecutive patients with the original tissue diagnosis of low-grade, non-pilocytic astrocytoma were reviewed. One-hundred and six were selected where two additional certified neuropathologist agreed on the grading of WHO Grade II astrocytoma.