FRACTIONATED STEREOTAXIC RADIOSURGERY AND CONCURRENT TAXOL IN RECURRENT GLIOBLASTOMA-MULTIFORME - A PRELIMINARY-REPORT

Purpose: Surgery and systemic chemotherapy offer modest benefit to pat ients with recurrent glioblastoma multiforme. These tumors are associa ted with rapid growth and progressive neurological deterioration, Radi osurgery offers a rational alternative treatment, delivering intensive local therapy, A pilot protocol to treat recurrent glioblastoma was d eveloped using fractionated stereotactic radiosurgery with concurrent intravenous (i.v.) Taxol as a radiation sensitizer, Methods and Materi als: The treatment outcome was analyzed in 14 patients with recurrent glioblastoma treated with fractionated stereotactic radiosurgery and c oncurrent Taxol. Median tumor volume was 15.7 cc and patients received a mean radiation dose of 6.2 Gy at 90 % isosdose line, 4 times weekly , The median dose of Taxol was 120 mg/m(2). Results: The median surviv al was 14.2 months, 1-year survival was 50 %. Conclusions: Survival fo r this small group of patients was similar to or better than historica l controls or patients treated with single-fraction radiosurgery alone , This data should stimulate the investigation of both fractionated ra diosurgery and the development of radiation sensitizers to further enh ance treatment. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Inc.