Fotemustine as second-line treatment for recurrent or progressive glioblastoma after concomitant and/or adjuvant temozolomide: a phase II trial of Gruppo Italiano Cooperativo di Neuro-Oncologia (GICNO).

Background: Standardized salvage treatment has not yet proved effective in glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) patients who receive prior standard radiotherapy plus concomitant and adjuvant temozolomide.

Methods: Patients with progressive GBM after radiotherapy plus concomitant and/or adjuvant temozolomide received three-weekly doses (100-75 mg m(2)) of fotemustine followed, after a 5-week rest, by fotemustine (100 mg m(2)) every 3 weeks for < or =1 year.

Results: Forty-three patients (29 M, 14 F; median age 51 years, range 34-68; median KPS 90) were enrolled.

MGMT promoter methylation status can predict the incidence and outcome of pseudoprogression after concomitant radiochemotherapy in newly diagnosed glioblastoma patients.

Purpose: Standard therapy for glioblastoma (GBM) is temozolomide (TMZ) administration, initially concurrent with radiotherapy (RT), and subsequently as maintenance therapy. The radiologic images obtained in this setting can be difficult to interpret since they may show radiation-induced pseudoprogression (psPD) rather than disease progression.

Methods: Patients with histologically confirmed GBM underwent radiotherapy plus continuous daily temozolomide (75 mg/m(2)/d), followed by 12 maintenance temozolomide cycles (150 to 200 mg/m(2) for 5 days every 28 days) if magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) showed no enhancement suggesting a tumor; otherwise, chemotherapy was delivered until complete response or unequivocal progression.

Temozolomide three weeks on and one week off as first line therapy for patients with recurrent or progressive low grade gliomas.

Background: Patients with recurrent or progressive low grade gliomas survive for a decade or more following diagnosis, and may be at a higher risk for treatment-related complications, such as cognitive impairment from radiotherapy.

Purpose: The aim of the present study was to determine in patients with progressive or recurrent low grade gliomas, the response rate and toxicity incurred by a continued schedule of temozolomide chemotherapy administered before radiation therapy, and to explore correlations between response and survival with 1p/19q deletions and MGMT promoter methylation status.

Methods: Progressive radio and chemotherapy naïve low grade glioma patients with O(6)-methyl-guanine-DNA-methyl-tranferase (MGMT) promoter status evaluation were considered eligible.

Long-term results of a prospective study on the treatment of medulloblastoma in adults.

Background: Because medulloblastoma (MB) is rare in adults, the few studies on this condition have been retrospective, and the follow-up has tended to be short. Furthermore, the different therapeutic strategies used in these patients has made it difficult to assess survival rates and prognostic factors.

Methods: In 1989, a prospective Phase II trial was initiated to evaluate the efficacy of treatment for adults with MB.

Gefitinib in patients with progressive high-grade gliomas: a multicentre phase II study by Gruppo Italiano Cooperativo di Neuro-Oncologia (GICNO).

To investigate the role of gefitinib in patients with high-grade gliomas (HGGs), a phase II trial (1839IL/0116) was conducted in patients with disease recurrence following surgery plus radiotherapy and first-line chemotherapy. Adult patients with histologically confirmed recurrent HGGs following surgery, radiotherapy and first-line chemotherapy, were considered eligible. Patients were treated with gefitinib (250 mg day(-1)) continuously until disease progression.