Introduction: Anaplastic astrocytoma (AA) or grade III is a primary brain tumor, astrocytic, malignant, and diffusely infiltrating. The survival of patients depends on several clinical and treatment factors, being this unknown in our environment. The objective of this study was to determine the survival of patients operated on for grade III astrocytoma and the impact of preoperative and postoperative prognostic factors.

Methods: A retrospective, observational and longitudinal study of 35 patients operated on for astrocytoma grade III at Hospital Guillermo Almenara between 2003 and 2009 was carried out. Data were collected from medical records, operative reports, and telephone interviews. Patients with anaplastic astrocytomas were classified according to prognostic risk group, treatment type, and surgery extent. SPSS 25.0 was used for the analysis.

Results: Of a total of 124 patients with astrocytoma, 28.2% (35/124) had a grade III astrocytoma, with an average survival of 34.8 months. According to the clinical prognosis group, the survival of the low, medium, and high-risk groups was 46.7, 28.1, and 8.5 months, respectively. Regarding the type of treatment, the group with the longest survival was surgery + radiotherapy (39.5 months), followed by surgery + radiotherapy + chemotherapy (29.3 months), and the one with the lowest survival was surgery alone (6.5 months). According to the extension of the surgery, the highest survival was obtained by the total resection group (46.2 months), while the lowest survival was for the partial resection group (13.9 months).

Conclusions: The average survival of patients operated on for grade III astrocytomas in our hospital was 34.8 months, with the best prognostic factors being the "low risk" clinical group, the combined treatment of surgery + radiotherapy, and total resection. Its classification into prognostic risk groups based on pre-surgical clinical data helps us predict survival.