Glioma, a malignant brain tumor, is a serious condition with a large impact on patients’ life expectancy and Health-Related Quality of Life (HRQoL). This thesis aimed to improve knowledge on the... Show moreGlioma, a malignant brain tumor, is a serious condition with a large impact on patients’ life expectancy and Health-Related Quality of Life (HRQoL). This thesis aimed to improve knowledge on the prediagnostic symptoms, tmeasurement of HRQoL and care in the end-of-life phase of glioma patients.Regarding prediagnostic symptoms in glioma patients, it was found that several symptoms such as fatigue or headache were relatively common before diagnosis, but not more common than in patients with other conditions. Therefore, identification of patients with glioma in general practice based on their symptomatology seems extremely difficult.For the measurement of HRQoL in glioma it was demonstrated that patients, proxies and healthcare neuro-oncology professionals were overall positive about their routine implementation of its assessment in clinical practice. Regarding the timing of the measurements, the scores were not influenced by assessment either before or after the consultation with the physician.With respect to the optimization of care in the end-of-life phase, a feasibility study on the disease-specific Advanced Care Program was conducted among patients with glioblastoma, the most malignant type of glioma and their nearest. The relatively positive results of that study in terms of satisfaction warrant the need for a larger, controlled study. Show less