Work

136 Tessa Jowell BRAIN MATRIX interim analysis: surgical and oncology outcomes in glioblastoma patients

Year: 2026

Type: article

Abstract: Introduction The Tessa Jowell BRAIN MATRIX (TJBM) is a programme of work aimed at improving the knowledge of and treatment for glioma, comprising a platform study with subsequent interventional clinical trials. Methods Interim analysis of first 500 patients from 11 specialist neurosurgical UK centres recruited to the TJBM study (14/Dec/2020-31/Jan/2025) with recruitment and data cleaning ongoing. Data snapshot 20/Feb/2026. Analysis conducted in R version 4.3.1. Results Amongst GBMs (n = 141), median age is 62 (IQR 55, 70), male 62.4%, ethnicity is White (94.3%), Asian (3.6%), Black (0.7%), other (1.4%). Patients presented mainly with headache (47%), cognitive (34%) or speech (36%) dysfunction and underwent surgery alone (26%), surgery and chemoradiotherapy (26%), surgery and radiotherapy (16%) or no intervention (14%). Gross total resection was achieved in 15% of cases, near total in 39% and subtotal resection in 27%. Median time from surgery to histological-molecular diagnosis was 27.5 (IQR 20, 42) days in England and 19.5 (IQR 13, 38) in Scotland. Median Intracranial Progression-Free Survival (IPFS) time was 10 months (95% CI: 8.4-13) from registration, with 44% (95% CI: 36-54%) of patients alive at 1 year and 15% (95% CI: 9-24%) at 2 years. Median Overall Survival (OS) time (date of diagnosis to date of death) was 14 months (95% CI: 12-15), with 57% (95% CI: 48-66%) of patients alive at 1 year and 21% (95% CI: 14-31%) at 2 years. IPFS and OS sub-group analyses were performed for age, gender, baseline performance, tumour type, and methylation status. Conclusion Despite neurosurgical and oncological advances, GBM patients still experience poor survival. Geographical and baseline factors need to be better explored to reduce barriers in healthcare access and ensure equitable representation in research.

Source: Neuro-Oncology

DOI: 10.1093/neuonc/noag172.040