Abstract

Introduction: To investigate the efficacy of platinum-based chemotherapy in patients with recurrent high-grade glioma (HGG) who had received previous alkylating line of chemotherapy. Material and methods: Case notes of patients who had received chemotherapy with carboplatin or cysplatin for recurrent HGG between June 2006 and July 2012 were reviewed. Baseline characteristics and outcomes after treatment were recorded. Results: Forty-eight patients received carboplatin/cysplatin as second line chemotherapy for recurrent HGG (grade III n=6; grade IV n=42). The median number of cycles completed was 4. Fifteen patients (28%) had at least minor response, 22 (49%) had stable disease and 11 (23%) had progressive disease. Six month progression-free survival was 30% (52% in patients with grade III glioma and 18% in patients with grade IV glioma). The median time to disease progression from the first treatment with platinum drug was 3.2 months. The median survival was 8 months (10 months for patients with grade III glioma and 7 months for patients with grade IV glioma). Among patients with either stable disease or a partial response, the median survival was 12 months compared with 3 months in patients with progressive disease. No survival or response rate differences were noted regarding the type of previous chemotherapy, nitrosoureas or temozolomide. Conclusions: Single-agent carboplatin/cysplatin has modest activity in patients with recurrent HGG previously treated with one line of chemotherapy, nitrosoureas or temozolomide. Despite the improvement of median survival of patients achieving stable disease or a partial response to treatment, more effective regimens are required for this patient population.

Key words: Recurrent high-grade glioma, carboplatin, survival.