Cancer Treatment Today

Low grade astrocytoma occurrs in adults and children. Radiotherapy is relatively contraindicated in children because it affects their intellectual growth. Chemotherapy may be used in young children to avoid or to delay radiotherapy because of its potential neurologic sequelae. To date, the most active chemotherapy regimen for these tumors is carboplatin and vincristine. These agents show objective response rates of 50-80% and produce prolonged stable

Glioblastoma Multiforme is a disease in which significant progress has been achieved over the past two decades and much investigation of novel drugs in ongoing. One such drug that has been extensively studied is thalidomide.  An early study(Marx et al) assessed 38 patients for response. Two patients (5%) achieved a partial response and 16 (42%) had stable disease. The median survival was 31 weeks and the 1-year survival was 35%. Patients who had

Chemoradiation after resection is well established for glioblastoma. Three randomized studies, MR, EIRTC and RTOG have all showed a benefit for it.TEMODAR® (temozolomide) is indicated for the treatment of adult patients with newly diagnosed glioblastoma multiforme concomitantly with radiotherapy and then as maintenance treatment.  One way to dose Temodar is with the Stupp protocol: Temodar 75 mg/m2 for 42 days with radiation. This is the dose and

Lay Summary: Xeloda is being investigated for GBM. Capecitabine (Xeloda) is a drug that damages the DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) of tumor cells and blocks the function of DNA and RNA (ribonucleic acid) of tumor cells. These actions help to kill the tumor cells. Celecoxib is a drug that may help to prevent the development of some types of cancer by blocking a type of enzyme (COX-2) that is found in tumor cells. Temozolomide and CCNU are the current

The use of paraplatin and etoposide for glioblastomas cannot be called standard. This regimen is not particularly effective, based on phase II studies. Some of these older studies conclued that it was not effective and others urged fartehr exploration. There were some responses in these studies and this regimen is now being studied again with the addition of newer agents.Moshe E. Stein et al, Carboplatin and etoposide for recurrent malignant glioma

Irinotecan and Avastin is a promising new combination for gliolastoma. In late November 2007, Genetech announced preliminary results of its randomized phase II study with two arms, Avastin vs. Irinotecan/Avastin. The latter arm had a higher TTP and response rate. However, when updated at 2008 ASCO, the Avastin arm had survival of 9.2 months in a bevacizumab-alone group versus 8.7 months with irinotecan. The Avastin application to the FDA was based

In one preclinical study, Dasatinib in combination with temozolomide more effectively increased the therapeutic efficacy of temozolomide than when dasatinib was combined with carboplatin or irinotecan. Researchers also used dasatinib to treat mice with glioblastoma and found that the drug significantly reduced tumor growth. These results strongly support the ongoing studies of dasatinib in the treatment of glioblastoma and provide a rationale for

Glioblastoma is a disease for which there were few options available until recently. The past several years brought several new potentially promising. Temozolomide (brand names Temodar and Temodal) is an oral alkylating drug. It is FDA indicated is indicated for the treatment of adult patients with newly diagnosed glioblastoma multiforme concomitantly with radiotherapy and then as maintenance treatment. TEMODAR is indicated for the treatment of adult

Lay Summary: Gleevec is not active in glioblastoma but may have promise in combination with other drugs. Despite optimal treatment, the prognosis of patients with malignant gliomas remains poor. Patients with glioblastoma multiforme have a median survival of 9 to 14 months, whereas those with anaplastic astrocytomas have a median survival of 24 to 36 months. Once patients develop tumor progression, conventional chemotherapy is generally ineffective,

Lay Summary: Irinotecan and Avastin is a promising new combination for gliolastoma. Ongoing trials are expected to move if forward to the standard of care. Avastin alone is still experimental. Glioblastoma is a disease for which there were few options available until recently. The past several years brought several new potentially promising treatments and one, Temodar, has been FDA approved for this indication. One of these promising approaches is