Abstract
We report six patients with progressive primary tumors of the brain who had prolonged periods with stable contrast-enhancing CT lesions following initial responses to chemotherapy. Chemotherapy was discontinued after 21 to 36 months, despite the persistence of apparent disease in each patient. PET using (F-18) fluorodeoxyglucose was performed in three patients, revealing hypometabolic lesions. All six patients are alive and well, with no clinical or radiographic evidence of progressive disease at 24 to 57+ months following termination of treatment. The usual criteria for terminating phase II chemotherapy in patients with a recurrent brain tumor are evidence of progressive disease or unacceptable toxicity. However, chemotherapeutic success mandates that these criteria be expanded to include patients whose response following the initiation of phase II treatment is followed by prolonged (greater than 1 year) radiographic and clinical stability. Complete response, ie, disappearance of all evidence of disease, is unusual in patients with recurrent primary brain tumors, even with highly effective therapy. Continued improvement in the therapy of patients with these tumors will allow wider application of these criteria.
- © 1989 by AAN Enterprises, Inc.
AAN Members
We have changed the login procedure to improve access between AAN.com and the Neurology journals. If you are experiencing issues, please log out of AAN.com and clear history and cookies. (For instructions by browser, please click the instruction pages below). After clearing, choose preferred Journal and select login for AAN Members. You will be redirected to a login page where you can log in with your AAN ID number and password. When you are returned to the Journal, your name should appear at the top right of the page.
AAN Non-Member Subscribers
Purchase access
Letters: Rapid online correspondence
REQUIREMENTS
You must ensure that your Disclosures have been updated within the previous six months. Please go to our Submission Site to add or update your Disclosure information.
Your co-authors must send a completed Publishing Agreement Form to Neurology Staff (not necessary for the lead/corresponding author as the form below will suffice) before you upload your comment.
If you are responding to a comment that was written about an article you originally authored:
You (and co-authors) do not need to fill out forms or check disclosures as author forms are still valid
and apply to letter.
Submission specifications:
- Submissions must be < 200 words with < 5 references. Reference 1 must be the article on which you are commenting.
- Submissions should not have more than 5 authors. (Exception: original author replies can include all original authors of the article)
- Submit only on articles published within 6 months of issue date.
- Do not be redundant. Read any comments already posted on the article prior to submission.
- Submitted comments are subject to editing and editor review prior to posting.
