A Study of a New Way to Treat Children and Young Adults With a Brain Tumor Called NGGCT
Status:
Recruiting
Trial end date:
2029-12-21
Target enrollment:
Participant gender:
Summary
This phase II trial studies the best approach to combine chemotherapy and radiation therapy
(RT) based on the patient's response to induction chemotherapy in patients with
non-germinomatous germ cell tumors (NGGCT) that have not spread to other parts of the brain
or body (localized). This study has 2 goals: 1) optimizing radiation for patients who respond
well to induction chemotherapy to diminish spinal cord relapses, 2) utilizing higher dose
chemotherapy followed by conventional RT in patients who did not respond to induction
chemotherapy. Chemotherapy drugs, such as carboplatin, etoposide, ifosfamide, and thiotepa,
work in different ways to stop the growth of tumor cells, either by killing the cells, by
stopping them from dividing, or by stopping them from spreading. Radiation therapy uses high
energy x-rays or high-energy protons to kill tumor cells and shrink tumors. Studies have
shown that patients with newly-diagnosed localized NGGCT, whose disease responds well to
chemotherapy before receiving radiation therapy, are more likely to be free of the disease
for a longer time than are patients for whom the chemotherapy does not efficiently eliminate
or reduce the size of the tumor. The purpose of this study is to see how well the tumors
respond to induction chemotherapy to decide what treatment to give next. Some patients will
be given RT to the spine and a portion of the brain. Others will be given high dose
chemotherapy and a stem cell transplant before RT to the whole brain and spine. Giving
treatment based on the response to induction chemotherapy may lower the side effects of
radiation in some patients and adjust the therapy to a more efficient one for other patients
with localized NGGCT.