title: Administration of temozolomide during and after radiotherapy for newly diagnosed high-grade gliomas excluding glioblastoma multiforme.
abstract: Primary brain high-grade gliomas, excluding glioblastoma are rare and heterogeneous tumors, showing different characteristic mutations and a better prognosis than glioblastomas. The addition of chemotherapy to the radiotherapy in the newly diagnosed disease has not been established yet. We treated 9 patients with newly diagnosed tumors with temozolomide at 75 mg/m2 for 7 days a week during standard radiotherapy, followed by six cycles at 200 mg/m2 on days 1-5 every 28 days. Fluorescence in situ hybridization for the 1 p/19 q loss was performed in seven out of the 9 patients. With a median follow-up of 15 months (range, 8-50), eight patients are alive and one died from disease progression. Four patients had disease progression at 7, 15, 14 and 13 months from the diagnosis. The 1 p/19 q loss was found in 5 patients; three have no evidence of disease, one had partial disease remission and one disease progression. Toxicities included one discitis requiring treatment withdrawal and specific antibiotic therapy, and one transient grade 3 psoriasiform reaction. Based on this small series of patients, the addition of temozolomide to radiotherapy may be recommended.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Oncology and Hematology, Istituto Clinico Humanitas, Via Manzoni, 56, 20089, Milano, Rozzano, Italy.
authors.forename: Giuseppe Luigi
authors.initials: GL
authors.lastname: Banna
authors.forename: Daniela
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Bettio
authors.forename: Marta
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Scorsetti
authors.forename: Pierina
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Navarria
authors.forename: Matteo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Simonelli
authors.forename: Riccardo
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Rodriguez Baena
authors.forename: Enrico
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Aimar
authors.forename: Paolo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Gaetani
authors.forename: Piergiuseppe
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Colombo
authors.forename: Felice
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Rognone
authors.forename: Armando
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Santoro
mesh_terms: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001932:Brain Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000401:mortality / Q000532:radiotherapy; D003131:Combined Modality Therapy; D003606:Dacarbazine / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D005910:Glioma / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000401:mortality / Q000532:radiotherapy; D006801:Humans; D016019:Survival Analysis; D000077204:Temozolomide
chemical_list: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents; D003606:Dacarbazine; D000077204:Temozolomide