Temozolomide single-agent chemotherapy for newly diagnosed anaplastic oligodendroglioma

J Neurooncol. 2009 Mar;92(1):57-63. doi: 10.1007/s11060-008-9735-x. Epub 2008 Nov 15.

Abstract

The treatment of patients with anaplastic oligodendroglioma (AO) has been significantly impacted by the molecular detection of loss of sequences on chromosomes 1p and 19q. We performed a clinical trial to prospectively evaluate the safety of treating patients with AO with temozolomide (TMZ) alone in patients with chromosome 1p/19q loss and with chemo-radiation in patients not harboring this loss. Forty-eight patients were enrolled, 36/48 (75%) with evidence of chromosome 1p/19q loss treated with TMZ alone and 12/18 (25%) without such losses, treated with pre-radiation TMZ followed by chemo-radiation. Despite more aggressive treatment, patients without 1p/19q loss had a shorter progression-free survival (PFS) of 13.5 months. With a median follow-up time of 32 months, patients with 1p/19q LOH had a median TTP of 28.7 months. Patients with AO with 1p/19q LOH can be safely treated with single-agent TMZ and do not appear to experience earlier or more frequent tumor progression. This treatment regimen should be studied as part of a formal randomized clinical trial.

Publication types

  • Clinical Trial, Phase II

MeSH terms

  • Antineoplastic Agents, Alkylating / therapeutic use*
  • Brain Neoplasms / drug therapy*
  • Brain Neoplasms / genetics
  • Brain Neoplasms / radiotherapy
  • Chromosomes, Human, Pair 1 / genetics
  • Chromosomes, Human, Pair 19 / genetics
  • Combined Modality Therapy
  • DNA Methylation
  • DNA Modification Methylases / genetics
  • DNA Repair Enzymes / genetics
  • Dacarbazine / analogs & derivatives*
  • Dacarbazine / therapeutic use
  • Disease-Free Survival
  • Humans
  • Kaplan-Meier Estimate
  • Loss of Heterozygosity
  • Oligodendroglioma / drug therapy*
  • Oligodendroglioma / genetics
  • Oligodendroglioma / radiotherapy
  • Prognosis
  • Promoter Regions, Genetic / genetics
  • Temozolomide
  • Tumor Suppressor Proteins / genetics

Substances

  • Antineoplastic Agents, Alkylating
  • Tumor Suppressor Proteins
  • Dacarbazine
  • DNA Modification Methylases
  • MGMT protein, human
  • DNA Repair Enzymes
  • Temozolomide