Quality of Care of Glioma Patients

During recent years, tremendous advances have been achieved in glioma diagnosis comprising high-throughput platforms for molecular profiling and imaging techniques. Now, the challenge is, and further will be, to transform gathered knowledge into personalized treatment ameliorating both glioma patients' prognosis and their quality of life.

However, highly specialized and costly medical and surgical care is still not available globally. Moreover, even in high-income countries glioma patients' care has been shown to be associated with their socioeconomic and environmental conditions. Emerging distance-spanning technologies such as telemedicine and virtual services more and more frequently help to overcome some obstacles in patients' care.

But care not only comprises technical and purely medical aspects. Patients' neurocognitive deficits, their loss of independence and of self-determination contribute to the psychosocial burden of glioma patients and their relatives. Thus, psycho-oncological interventions, social integration and support in daily life are of paramount importance for patients as well as their caregivers. Also in clinical studies, these topics came into focus of research and have even become main outcomes in intervention trials.

This Research Topic aims at evaluating and advancing glioma patients´ care, encompassing medical, psychological, socioeconomic, demographical and environmental aspects. We welcome contributions focusing, but not limited to:

·        Advances in technology and in organization of neuro-oncological care

·        Quality indicators in neuro-oncology

·        Socioeconomic and environmental conditions

·        Distance-spanning technologies and support

·        Neurocognition and quality of life in glioma patients and their caregivers

·        Patient-centered outcome monitoring inside and outside clinical studies