Combination Chemotherapy Plus Radiation Therapy in Treating Adult Patients With Brain Cancer

• Status: Completed
• Trial end date: 1969-12-31
• Target enrollment: 0
• Participant gender: All

Summary

RATIONALE: Drugs used in chemotherapy use different ways to stop tumor cells from dividing so they stop growing or die. Radiation therapy uses high-energy x-rays to damage tumor cells. Combining more than one drug and combining chemotherapy with radiation therapy may kill more tumor cells.

PURPOSE: Phase II trial to study the effectiveness of combination chemotherapy followed by radiation therapy in treating adult patients with brain cancer.

• Phase: Phase 2
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers?: No

Details

• Lead Sponsor: Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group
• Collaborators: National Cancer Institute (NCI); Southwest Oncology Group
• Treatments: Cyclophosphamide; Etoposide; Vincristine

Criteria

DISEASE CHARACTERISTICS:

• Histologically confirmed central nervous system cancer including:

• Medulloblastoma with either local residual disease of greater than 1 cm^2 on MRI following resection or evidence of metastases (M1-4)

• Other primitive neuroectodermal tumors

• Ependymoma with evidence of subarachnoid metastases

• Must have less than 1 cm of midline shift or no acute elevated intercranial pressure

PATIENT CHARACTERISTICS:

Age:

• 18 and over

Performance status:

• ECOG 0-2

Life expectancy:

• Not specified

Hematopoietic:

• WBC greater than 4,000/mm^3

• Platelet count greater than 125,000/mm^3

• Hemoglobin greater than 10 g/dL

• No preexisting hematologic condition that would increase toxicity or limit ability to comply with evaluations and follow-up

Hepatic:

• Bilirubin less than 2 times upper limit of normal (ULN)

• SGOT less than 2 times ULN

• Alkaline phosphatase less than 2 times ULN

• No preexisting hepatic condition that would increase toxicity or limit ability to comply with evaluations and follow-up

Renal:

• Creatinine greater than 70 mL/min

• No preexisting renal condition that would increase toxicity or limit ability to comply with evaluations and follow-up

Pulmonary:

• No history of significant pulmonary disease or, if there is preexisting pulmonary disease, then DLCO greater than 60% of predicted

• No preexisting pulmonary condition that would increase toxicity or limit ability to comply with evaluations and follow-up

Other:

• No preexisting psychiatric condition that would increase toxicity or limit ability to comply with evaluations and follow-up

• No prior or concurrent malignancies within the past 5 years except curatively treated carcinoma in situ of the cervix or basal cell or squamous cell skin cancer

• Not pregnant or nursing

• Fertile patients must use effective contraception

PRIOR CONCURRENT THERAPY:

Biologic therapy:

• Not specified

Chemotherapy:

• No prior chemotherapy

Endocrine therapy:

• No increasing doses of steroids for intracranial disease within 3 days of registration

Radiotherapy:

• No prior radiotherapy

Surgery:

• 10-28 days since prior surgical resection OR

• At least 5 days since prior biopsy