CHEMOTHERAPY FOR BRAIN-TUMORS

Traditionally, cytotoxic drugs have played a limited role in the treat ment of brain tumors, but important advances in chemotherapy have occu rred during the post decade, Certain central nervous system (CNS) mali gnancies are remarkably chemosensitive. These include primary CNS lymp homa, medulloblastoma, oligodendroglioma, and intracranial germ-cell t umors. This review focuses on advances in the chemotherapy of these ch emosensitive tumors and also discusses the potential use of chemothera peutic agents, both cytotoxic and cytostatic, in other brain tumors, s uch as glioblastomas and anaplastic astrocytomas. In addition, a brief description of future directions that may hold promise, including hig h-dose chemotherapy with stem-cell rescue, blood-brain barrier disrupt ion, and regional treatment using controlled-release biodegradable pol ymers, is included.