Brain Cancer Research Today is a free monthly online journal that collates and summarizes the latest research about Brain Cancer, including details on symptoms, benign and malignant tumors, gliomas, treatment.

Phase II trial of intravenous lobradimil and carboplatin in childhood brain tumors: a report from the Children's Oncology Group.

Warren K, Jakacki R, Widemann B, Aikin A, Libucha M, Packer R, Vezina G, Reaman G, Shaw D, Krailo M, Osborne C, Cehelsky J, Caldwell D, Stanwood J, Steinberg SM, Balis FM

National Cancer Institute/Neuro-Oncology Branch, Bethesda, MD 20892-8200, USA. warrenk@mail.nih.gov

BACKROUND: Lobradimil is a synthetic bradykinin analog that rapidly and transiently increases the permeability of the blood-brain barrier (BBB). The combination of lobradimil and carboplatin was studied in pediatric patients with primary brain tumors in a phase II trial, the primary endpoints of which were to estimate the response rate and time to disease progression. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Patients were stratified by histology into five cohorts: brainstem glioma, high-grade glioma, low-grade glioma, medullobastoma/primitive neuroectodermal tumor (PNET), and ependymoma. Patients received carboplatin adaptively dosed to achieve a target AUC of 3.5 mg min/ml per day (7 mg.min/ml/cycle) intravenously over 15 min on 2 consecutive days and lobradimil 600 ng/kg ideal body weight/day on 2 consecutive days each 28 day cycle. RESULTS: Forty-one patients, age 2-19 years, were enrolled; 38 patients, including 1 patient ultimately determined to have atypical neurocytoma, were evaluable for response. No objective responses were observed in the brainstem glioma (n=12) and high-grade glioma (n = 9) cohorts, although two patients with high-grade glioma had prolonged disease stabilization (>6 months). The study was closed for commercial reasons prior to achieving the accrual goals for the ependymoma (n = 8), medulloblastoma/PNET (n = 6) and low-grade glioma (n = 2) cohorts, although responses were observed in 1 patient with PNET and 2 patients with ependymoma. CONCLUSION: The combination of lobradimil and carboplatin was inactive in childhood high-grade gliomas and brainstem gliomas.

Published 24 May 2006 in Cancer Chemother Pharmacol, 58(3): 343-7.
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