OBJECTIVE Glioblastoma (GBM) is the most common and deadly malignant primary 
brain tumor. Better surgical therapies are needed for newly diagnosed GBMs that 
are difficult to resect and for GBMs that recur despite standard therapies. The 
authors reviewed their institutional experience of using laser interstitial 
thermal therapy (LITT) for the treatment of newly diagnosed or recurrent GBMs. 
METHODS This study reports on the pre-LITT characteristics and post-LITT 
outcomes of 8 patients with newly diagnosed GBMs and 13 patients with recurrent 
GBM who underwent LITT. RESULTS Compared with the group with recurrent GBMs, the 
patients with newly diagnosed GBMs who underwent LITT tended to be older (60.8 
vs 48.9 years), harbored larger tumors (22.4 vs 14.6 cm3), and a greater 
proportion had IDH wild-type GBMs. In the newly diagnosed GBM group, the median 
progression-free survival and the median survival after the procedure were 2 
months and 8 months, respectively, and no patient demonstrated radiographic 
shrinkage of the tumor on follow-up imaging. In the 13 patients with recurrent 
GBM, 5 demonstrated a response to LITT, with radiographic shrinkage of the tumor 
following ablation. The median progression-free survival was 5 months, and the 
median survival was greater than 7 months. CONCLUSIONS In carefully selected 
patients with recurrent GBM, LITT may be an effective alternative to surgery as 
a salvage treatment. Its role in the treatment of newly diagnosed unresectable 
GBMs is not established yet and requires further study.