Evidence map›Paper›PMID 23680820›Full record

ArticleNeuro-oncology2013

Effect of valproic acid on seizure control and on survival in patients with glioblastoma multiforme.

Melissa Kerkhof, Janneke C M Dielemans, Melanie S van Breemen, Hanneke Zwinkels, Robert Walchenbach, Martin J Taphoorn, Charles J Vecht

Registry-linked trialOpen access · bronzeAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Neuro-oncology, 2013. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT02815410 (The Prospective Trial for Validation of the Role of Levetiracetam as a Sensitizer of Temozolomide in the Treatment of Newly Diagnosed Glioblastoma Patients), which is not on this map. Cited by 117 papers, 5 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
117citing papers in PubMed, 5 pooled it
9.4field-weighted citation impact, top 1% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

NCT02815410 phase2unknown statusnot on this mapstarted 2016, after this paper: background citation

The Prospective Trial for Validation of the Role of Levetiracetam as a Sensitizer of Temozolomide in the Treatment of Newly Diagnosed Glioblastoma Patients

TypeinterventionalSponsorSeoul National University HospitalRan2016 to 2022Enrolled73ConditionsGlioblastoma MultiformeArmslevetiracetam
3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

117 citing papers in PubMed, 5 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 215 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Guideline
  2. Management of epilepsy in brain tumors.Neurological sciences : official journal of the Italian Neurological Society and of the Italian Society of Clinical Neurophysiology · 2019
    Guideline
  3. Pooled it
  4. Pooled it
  5. Pooled it
  6. Trial
  7. Trial
  8. Trial
  9. Article
  10. Article
  11. Article
  12. Review
  13. Review
  14. Article
  15. Morphometric and radiomics analysis toward the prediction of epilepsy associated with supratentorial low-grade glioma in children.Cancer imaging : the official publication of the International Cancer Imaging Society · 2025
    Article
  16. Review
  17. Review
  18. Review
  19. Article
  20. Review

57 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

7 authors at 1 institution in 2 countries.

Melissa KerkhofNeuro-oncology Unit, Department of Neurology,Medical Center Haaglanden, The Hague, The Netherlands. mkerkhof85@gmail.com
Janneke C M Dielemans
Melanie S van Breemen
Hanneke Zwinkels
Robert Walchenbach
Martin J Taphoorn
Charles J Vecht
Sorbonne Université · FR

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundTo examine the efficacy of valproic acid (VPA) given either with or without levetiracetam (LEV) on seizure control and on survival in patients with glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) treated with chemoradiation.

methodsA retrospective analysis was performed on 291 patients with GBM. The efficacies of VPA and LEV alone and as polytherapy were analyzed in 181 (62%) patients with seizures with a minimum follow-up of 6 months. Cox-regression survival analysis was performed on 165 patients receiving chemoradiation with temozolomide of whom 108 receiving this in combination with VPA for at least 3 months.

resultsMonotherapy with either VPA or LEV was instituted in 137/143 (95.8%) and in 59/86 (68.6%) on VPA/LEV polytherapy as the next regimen. Initial freedom from seizure was achieved in 41/100 (41%) on VPA, in 16/37 (43.3%) on LEV, and in 89/116 (76.7%) on subsequent VPA/LEV polytherapy. At the end of follow-up, seizure freedom was achieved in 77.8% (28/36) on VPA alone, in 25/36 (69.5%) on LEV alone, and in 38/63 (60.3%) on VPA/LEV polytherapy with ongoing seizures on monotherapy. Patients using VPA in combination with temozolomide showed a longer median survival of 69 weeks (95% confidence interval [CI]: 61.7-67.3) compared with 61 weeks (95% CI: 52.5-69.5) in the group without VPA (hazard ratio, 0.63; 95% CI: 0.43-0.92; P = .016), adjusting for age, extent of resection, and O(6)-DNA methylguanine-methyltransferase promoter methylation status.

conclusionsPolytherapy with VPA and LEV more strongly contributes to seizure control than does either as monotherapy. Use of VPA together with chemoradiation with temozolomide results in a 2-months' longer survival of patients with GBM.

Indexed as

AdultAgedAged, 80 and overAnticonvulsantsAntineoplastic Agents, AlkylatingBrain NeoplasmsDacarbazineDrug Therapy, CombinationFemaleFollow-Up StudiesGlioblastomaHumansLevetiracetamMaleMiddle AgedNeoplasm Recurrence, LocalAnticonvulsantsAntineoplastic Agents, AlkylatingDacarbazineLevetiracetamPiracetamTemozolomideValproic Acidepilepsyglioblastoma multiformelevetiracetamsurvivalvalproic acid

Identifiers

PMID23680820
PMCPMC3688020
OpenAlexW2151485047

What OpenQuestion holds

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Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.