Radiation Therapy Combined With Chemotherapy in Treating Patients With Anaplastic Astrocytoma or Mixed Gliomas

• Status: Completed
• Trial end date: 2018-05-14
• Target enrollment: 0
• Participant gender: All

Summary

RATIONALE: Radiation therapy uses high-energy x-rays to damage tumor cells. Drugs used in chemotherapy, such as temozolomide, carmustine, and lomustine, use different ways to stop tumor cells from dividing so they stop growing or die. Combining radiation therapy with chemotherapy may kill more tumor cells.

PURPOSE: This randomized phase III trial is studying radiation therapy and temozolomide to see how well they work compared to radiation therapy and carmustine or lomustine in treating patients with anaplastic astrocytoma or mixed gliomas.

• Phase: Phase 3
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers?: No

Details

• Lead Sponsor: Radiation Therapy Oncology Group
• Collaborators: Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group; National Cancer Institute (NCI); North Central Cancer Treatment Group; NRG Oncology
• Treatments: Carmustine; Dacarbazine; Temozolomide

Criteria

DISEASE CHARACTERISTICS:

• Histologically proven unifocal anaplastic astrocytoma or mixed gliomas, including the following:

• Anaplastic astrocytoma

• Mixed oligodendroglial/astrocytic tumors

• Oligodendroglial component must be no greater than 25%

• No vascular proliferation and necrosis

• Increased cellularity, pleomorphism, and nuclear atypia allowed

• No tumor predominantly located in the posterior fossa (i.e., brainstem or cerebellum)

• Patients with prior biopsy proven low grade astrocytoma who now have anaplastic astrocytoma and have had no prior radiotherapy or chemotherapy also eligible

• Study therapy must begin within 6 weeks of diagnosis

• No spinal cord tumors, spinal drop metastases, or metastases to noncontiguous meninges

• Pathologic evidence of local meningeal infiltration by underlying tumor allowed

PATIENT CHARACTERISTICS:

Age:

• 18 and over

Performance status:

• Karnofsky 60-100%

Life expectancy:

• At least 1 year

Hematopoietic:

• Hemoglobin at least 10 g/dL

• Absolute neutrophil count at least 1,500/mm^3

• Platelet count at least 150,000/mm^3

Hepatic:

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

• Aspartate aminotransferase (AST) less than 2 times ULN

• Alkaline phosphatase less than 2 times ULN

Renal:

• Blood urea nitrogen no greater than 25 mg/dL

• Creatinine less than 1.5 times normal

Pulmonary:

• No pre-existing lung disease that, in the investigator's opinion, would preclude administration of carmustine or lomustine or completion of therapy

Other:

• No other major medical illness or psychiatric impairment that would preclude study compliance

• No other malignancy within the past 5 years except nonmelanomatous skin cancer or carcinoma in situ of the cervix

• No known hypersensitivity to 1 of the components of carmustine, lomustine, temozolomide, dacarbazine, or any other nitrosourea

• No active infection

• Not pregnant or nursing

• Negative pregnancy test

• Fertile patients must use effective contraception

PRIOR CONCURRENT THERAPY:

Biologic therapy:

• No prior biologic therapy

Chemotherapy:

• See Disease Characteristics

• No prior chemotherapy

Endocrine therapy:

• Not specified

Radiotherapy:

• See Disease Characteristics

• No prior radiotherapy to brain or head and neck

Surgery:

• Not specified

Other:

• No other concurrent anticancer treatment for anaplastic astrocytoma until a recurrence is detected