Can a gross total resection of a frontal lobe glioma achieve cure?

Whether complete resection of frontal lobe glioma can be curative depends on the tumor grade.

1. Potentially curable

After the development of frontal lobe glioma, patients generally experience increased intracranial pressure, manifesting as nausea, vomiting, papilledema, headache, and visual disturbances. They may also develop hemiplegia, hemianopia, or hemisensory deficits. If surgical resection is performed promptly after diagnosis and pathological examination reveals a grade I tumor, complete removal of the glioma through extensive surgery is often feasible, achieving a cure with a low risk of postoperative recurrence.

2. Generally not curable

If pathological examination following surgical resection shows a tumor grade II or higher, this typically indicates a higher degree of malignancy, making complete cure difficult. Recurrence after surgery is common. Patients usually require adjuvant radiotherapy and chemotherapy to suppress or destroy residual tumor cells, thereby delaying tumor recurrence. With active treatment, quality of life can be improved and survival duration prolonged.