VM-26 monochemotherapy trial in the treatment of recurrent supratentorial gliomas: preliminary report.

Twenty-five adults with recurrent supratentorial malignant gliomas were treated with VM-26 in a monochemotherapy schedule, the antiblastic region covering a period of 24 weeks. Five cases were excluded from the final evaluation, 4 because of protocol violations and 1 due to intolerance to the drug. In the group of 20 patients who met the criteria for evaluation, 7 (35%) showed a partial or complete response, with clinical or radiological tumor aggression, and the conditions of 7 (35%) were unchanged at the end of the chemotherapy courses. The progression-free intervals turned out to be 10.4 months and 8.5 months, respectively. Six patients (30%) complained of tumor progression despite the treatment. Most of the patients are still alive, and the actuarial survival rate is encouraging. Toxicity was mainly hematologic, but usually moderate and easily reversible.