Glioblastoma is a type of very aggressive brain tumor. It is also known as ... Glioblastomas are sometimes called grade 4 astrocytoma tumors. Tumors are graded ...WhatIsGliobastoma?MedicallyreviewedbySeungguHan,M.D.—WrittenbyStephanieWatson—UpdatedonAugust29,2018TypesSurvivalratesandlifeexpectancyTreatmentsCausesandriskfactorsGlioblastomasymptomsGlioblastomaisatypeofveryaggressivebraintumor.Itisalsoknownasglioblastomamultiforme.Glioblastomaisoneofagroupoftumorscalledastrocytomas.Thesetumorsstartinastrocytes—star-shapedcellsthatnourishandsupportnervecells(neurons)inyourbrain.However,aglioblastomacancontainmanydifferenttypesofbraincells—includingdeadbraincells.About12to15percentofpeoplewithbraintumorshaveglioblastomas.Thistypeoftumorgrowsveryfastinsidethebrain.Itscellscopythemselvesquickly,andithasalotofbloodvesselstofeedit.However,itrarelyspreadstootherpartsofthebody.Whatdoesgrade4astrocytomamean?Glioblastomasaresometimescalledgrade4astrocytomatumors.Tumorsaregradedonascalefrom1to4basedonhowdifferenttheylookfromnormalcells.Thegradeindicateshowfastthetumorislikelytogrowandspread.Agrade4tumoristhemostaggressiveandfastest-growingtype.Itcanspreadthroughoutyourbrainveryquickly.TypesofglioblastomaTherearetwotypesofglioblastoma:Primary(denovo)isthemostcommontypeofglioblastoma.It’salsothemostaggressiveform.Secondaryglioblastomaislesscommonandslowergrowing.Itusuallystartsfromalower-grade,lessaggressiveastrocytoma.Secondaryglioblastomaaffectsabout10percentofpeoplewiththistypeofbraincancer.Mostpeoplewhogetthisformofcancerareage45oryounger.Glioblastomasoftengrowinthefrontalandtemporallobesofthebrain.Theycanalsobefoundinthebrainstem,cerebellum,otherpartsofthebrain,andthespinalcord.SurvivalratesandlifeexpectancyThemediansurvivaltimewithglioblastomais15to16monthsinpeoplewhogetsurgery,chemotherapy,andradiationtreatment.Medianmeanshalfofallpatientswiththistumorsurvivetothislengthoftime.Everyonewithglioblastomaisdifferent.Somepeopledon’tsurviveaslong.Otherpeoplemaysurviveuptofiveyears