Kinetic evaluation of low-grade gliomas in adults before and after treatment with CCNU alone.

OBJECT The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of CCNU chemotherapy alone on low-grade glioma (LGG) growth dynamics. METHODS The authors measured the evolution of the mean tumor diameter (MTD) in adult patients with LGG before (n=28 patients) and after (n=38 patients) CCNU administration. RESULTS Natural (spontaneous) growth of LGG in the present study was 4.3 mm/year (range 2.1-6.6 mm/year). The median MTD decrease after CCNU was 5.1 mm/year (range 1-8.9 mm/year). MTD decrease was noted in 30 patients (late decrease in 4 patients, and ongoing decrease in 24 patients with oligodendroglial tumors and 2 with astrocytic tumors). The median duration it took for the MTD to decrease after initiation of CCNU treatment was 619 days (1038 days for oligodendroglial tumors vs 377 days for astrocytic tumors; p=0.003). CONCLUSIONS These results show that CCNU as a single agent has a significant impact on LGG tumor growth. The impact of CCNU seems to be comparable to the previously reported impact of temozolomide therapy and of combined procarbazine, CCNU, and vincristine chemotherapy.