Evidence map›Paper›PMID 34026655›Full record

ArticleFrontiers in oncology2021

Tumor Treating Fields for Glioblastoma Therapy During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Na Tosha N Gatson, Jill Barnholtz-Sloan, Jan Drappatz, Roger Henriksson, Andreas F Hottinger, Piet Hinoul, Carol Kruchko, Vinay K Puduvalli, David D Tran, Eric T Wong and 1 more

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Frontiers in oncology, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 9 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
9citing papers in PubMed
1.0field-weighted citation impact, top 21% 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.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

9 citing papers in PubMed, 14 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Association of tumor treating fields (TTFields) therapy with overall survival in newly diagnosed glioblastoma.Clinical & translational oncology : official publication of the Federation of Spanish Oncology Societies and of the National Cancer Institute of Mexico · 2025
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  5. How has the COVID-19 pandemic impacted clinical care and research in Neuro-Oncology?Journal of clinical neuroscience : official journal of the Neurosurgical Society of Australasia · 2022
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

11 authors at 10 institutions in 3 countries.

Na Tosha N GatsonDivision of Neuro-Oncology, Department of Neurology, Geisinger Health, Neuroscience & Cancer Institutes, Danville, PA & Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine, Scranton, PA, United States.
Jill Barnholtz-SloanDepartment of Population and Quantitative Health Sciences, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine & Research and Education, University Hospitals of Cleveland, Cleveland, OH, United States.
Jan DrappatzHillman Cancer Center, Department of Medicine and Neurology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, United States.
Roger HenrikssonDepartment of Radiation Sciences & Oncology at the University of Ume, Ume, Sweden.
Andreas F HottingerDepartments of Clinical Neurosciences & Oncology, Lausanne University Hospital (CHUV), Lausanne, Switzerland.
Piet HinoulGlobal Medical Affairs, Novocure Inc., New York, NY, United States.
Carol KruchkoCentral Brain Tumor Registry of the United States (CBTRUS), Hinsdale, IL, United States.
Vinay K PuduvalliDepartment of Neuro-Oncology, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, United States.
David D TranLillian S. Wells Department of Neurosurgery and Preston A. Wells, Jr. Brain Tumor Center at the McKnight Brain Institute of the University of Florida College of Medicine, Gainesville, FL, United States.
Eric T WongDepartment of Neurology, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States.
Martin GlasDivision of Clinical Neurooncology, Department of Neurology and German Cancer Consortium (DKTK) Partner Site, University Hospital Essen, University Duisburg-Essen, Essen, Germany.
Banner MD Anderson Cancer CenterCase Western Reserve University · USCentral Brain Tumor Registry of the United States · USDeutschen Konsortium für Translationale Krebsforschung · DEHarvard University · USNovocure (United States) · USThe University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center · USUmeå University · SEUniversity of Florida · USUPMC Hillman Cancer Center · US

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundThe COVID-19 pandemic has placed excessive strain on health care systems and is especially evident in treatment decision-making for cancer patients. Glioblastoma (GBM) patients are among the most vulnerable due to increased incidence in the elderly and the short survival time. A virtual meeting was convened on May 9, 2020 with a panel of neuro-oncology experts with experience using Tumor Treating Fields (TTFields). The objective was to assess the risk-to-benefit ratio and provide guidance for using TTFields in GBM during the COVID-19 pandemic. PANEL DISCUSSION: Topics discussed included support and delivery of TTFields during the COVID-19 pandemic, concomitant use of TTFields with chemotherapy, and any potential impact of TTFields on the immune system in an intrinsically immunosuppressed GBM population. Special consideration was given to TTFields' use in elderly patients and in combination with radiotherapy regimens. Finally, the panel discussed the need to better capture data on COVID-19positive brain tumor patients to analyze longitudinal outcomes and changes in treatment decision-making during the pandemic. EXPERT OPINION: TTFields is a portable home-use device which can be managed via telemedicine and safely used in GBM patients during the COVID-19 pandemic. TTFields has no known immunosuppressive effects which is important during a crisis where other treatment methods might be limited, especially for elderly patients with multiple co-morbidities. It is too early to estimate the full impact of COVID-19 on the global healthcare system and on patient outcomes and the panel strongly recommended collaboration with existing cancer COVID-19 registries to follow CNS tumor patients.

Indexed as

COVID-19elderlyglioblastomarecurrent glioblastomatumor treating fields

Identifiers

PMID34026655
PMCPMC8139188
OpenAlexW3162487526

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.