incidence of depression is very high and very few of these patients are treated for depression. This is one patient management tool that could be implement immediately to help a patients' quality of life," Laws said. Few patients (7 percent) received the drug heparin for blood clots as well, despite the risk of deep venous thrombosis. The study found conflicting literature on the efficacy of low-dose heparin in brain tumor patients.

The JAMA article was the final report on the "Glioma Outcomes Project," a prospective, longitudinal database begun in 1997 that tracked clinical practice patterns and outcomes among North American patients with malignant gliomas at 52 clinical sites, including U. Va. "Now we have a really solid benchmark," Laws said. "This paper tells us a great deal about where we are now and where we need to go in diagnosing and treating malignant brain tumors. When we have studies involving the same kind of patient treated with new ways, we can hopefully answer the questions- is it really better than the treatment standard in 2003 or 2004?"

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Contact: Bob Beard
reb8e@virginia.edu
434-982-4490
University of Virginia Health System
2-Feb-2005

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