title: Temozolomide for recurrent low-grade spinal cord gliomas in adults.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  There is no standard therapy for surgery- and radiotherapy-resistant, recurrent, low-grade spinal cord gliomas. Therefore, a retrospective study of temozolomide (TMZ) in adults with recurrent low-grade spinal cord gliomas with a primary objective of determining progression-free survival (PFS) was performed.
  
  
  METHODS
  Twenty-two patients (11 men and 11 women) aged 20 years to 55 years (median, 35 years) with recurrent spinal cord gliomas (World Health Organization grade 2 astrocytoma in 19 patients and oligoastrocytoma in 3 patients) were treated. All had previously been treated with surgery and involved-field radiotherapy. Thirteen patients underwent repeat surgery. All patients were chemotherapy-naive. TMZ was administered at a dose of 150-200 mg/m(2)/day for 5 consecutive days every 4 weeks (operationally defined as a single cycle). Neurologic and neuroradiographic evaluations were performed every 8 weeks.
  
  
  RESULTS
  All patients were evaluable for toxicity and response. A total of 266 cycles of TMZ (median, 14 cycles; range, 2 cycles-24 cycles) was administered. TMZ-related toxicity included constipation (9 patients, 1 with grade 3), lymphopenia (9 patients, 1 with grade 3), fatigue (7 patients, 1 with grade 3), neutropenia (6 patients, 2 with grade 3), and thrombocytopenia (6 patients, 2 with grade 3). Four (18%) patients demonstrated a partial radiographic response, 12 (55%) demonstrated stable disease, and 6 (27%) had progressive disease after 2 cycles of TMZ. Time to tumor progression ranged from 2 months to 28 months (median, 14.5 months). Survival ranged from 4 months to 39 months (median, 23 months). PFS at 6 months, 12 months, 18 months, and 24 months was 64%, 64%, 41%, and 27%, respectively.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  TMZ demonstrated modest efficacy with acceptable toxicity in this cohort of adult patients with recurrent low-grade spinal cord gliomas.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology and Neurological Surgery, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98109-1023, USA. chambemc@u.washington.edu
authors.forename: Marc C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Chamberlain
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D018906:Antineoplastic Agents, Alkylating / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D003606:Dacarbazine / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D018572:Disease-Free Survival; D004334:Drug Administration Schedule; D005260:Female; D005910:Glioma / Q000188:drug therapy*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009364:Neoplasm Recurrence, Local / Q000188:drug therapy; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013120:Spinal Cord Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy*; D000077204:Temozolomide
chemical_list: D018906:Antineoplastic Agents, Alkylating; D003606:Dacarbazine; D000077204:Temozolomide