A 41-year-old man presented after a week of intermittent headaches and was found to have a left frontal enhancing mass (Figure a). A gross total resection was performed and the pathology showed GBM with primitive neuroectodermal tumor (PNET) component (MGMT promoter unmethylated, EGFR not amplified, 1p/19q co-deletion negative). Surgery was followed by radiotherapy and daily TMZ and then NovoTTF therapy/metronomic TMZ. Six months later, a distal lesion were noted (Figure b), and he underwent further resection with adjustment of his fields. In order to address the PNET component if his tumor, and because a combination of ifosfamide, carboplatin, etoposide (ICE) has been shown to be effective against this tumor type [], his chemotherapy was changed to bevacizumab with ICE (ifosfamide, carboplatin, etoposide) × six cycles. He continued on bevacizumab with NovoTTF therapy for over a year until he developed leptomeningeal disease and passed away in July 2013.
A 39-year-old woman who presented after a new-onset seizure was found to have a left parietal GBM (genetics not available) (Figure a). She underwent subtotal resection followed by radiotherapy with daily temozolomide (TMZ), and then NovoTTF Therapy with metronomic TMZ. After 3 months, her MRI showed progression near her initial resection site, and temozolomide was replaced by bevacizumab (BEV), with NovoTTF Therapy continuing. Nine months later, she had local recurrence in addition to bifrontal enhancing lesions (Figure b), and her TTFields were adjusted. Over the next five months, her multifocal tumor burden increased, and death was preceded by a right insular recurrence.