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Summarizes an investigation by the Wisconsin Division of Public Health of dental offices in the state, which indicated that storage boxes for intraoral radiograph film in the offices contained lead oxide. How patients were at risk for exposure to a substantial amount of lead during a dental radiograph procedure if the office stored dental film in these boxes; Danger of lead exposure to children and pregnant women; How advances in dental radiograph technology have made lead-lined storage boxes unnecessary.

MEDI-575, an immunoglobulin G2κ monoclonal antibody, selectively binds to platelet-derived growth factor-α receptor (PDGFR-α) with high specificity. This multicenter, single-arm, open-label, phase II study evaluated the efficacy and safety of MEDI-575 in patients with recurrent glioblastoma. Adults with first recurrence of glioblastoma following surgery, temozolomide, and radiation received MEDI-575 25 mg/kg intravenously over 60 min every 21 days until disease progression or unacceptable toxicity. Six-month progression-free survival rate (PFS-6) was the primary end point; secondary measures included response rate, overall survival (OS), and safety/tolerability. PDGFR-α expression was evaluated by immunohistochemistry. Fifty-six patients were enrolled; median age was 56.5 years (range 23-79), 66 % were male, and 66 % were aged ≥65 years. PFS-6 was 15.4 % [90 % confidence interval (CI) 8.1-24.9]. No complete or partial responses were observed; 23 (41.1 %) patients had stable disease as best response. Median PFS was 1.4 months (90 % CI 1.4, 1.8); median OS was 9.7 months (90 % CI 6.5, 11.8). The most common treatment-related adverse events (AEs) were diarrhea (16 %), nausea (13 %), and fatigue (13 %). Twelve (21 %) patients reported grade ≥3 AEs, with hydrocephalus (n = 3), dysphagia (n = 2), and convulsion (n = 2) reported in more than 1 patient. Two patients had treatment-related Grade ≥3 AEs of decreased lymphocyte count and asthenia (n = 1 each). Seven patients (13 %) discontinued MEDI-575 owing to AEs. Labeling of PDGFRα in glioblastoma cells and tumor-associated stromal cells was highly variable, with no correlation with PFS. MEDI-575, although well tolerated, had limited clinical activity in recurrent glioblastoma.

Purpose: Recent data suggest that the glutamatergic system is important in the proliferation and migration of glioblastoma. Talampanel is a well-tolerated, oral alpha-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazolepropionic acid (AMPA) receptor blocker that could be beneficial in this disease., Patients and Methods: This trial was designed to estimate overall survival in adults with newly diagnosed glioblastoma treated with talampanel in addition to standard radiation (RT) and temozolomide (TMZ). A secondary purpose was to evaluate talampanel toxicity in this setting. Talampanel was initiated with RT + TMZ and discontinued for toxicity or disease progression. Survival was compared with historical controls., Results: Seventy-two patients were enrolled from December 2005 to July 2006. Their median age was 60 years (range, 37 to 85 years, with 17% > 70 years), median Karnofsky performance score was 90 (range, 70 to 100), and 77% had a debulking procedure. With a median follow-up time of 18 months, 55 patients (76%) have died, yielding a median survival time of 18.3 months (95% CI, 14.6 to 22.5 months). When the 60 patients who were 18 to 70 years old were compared with the European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) RT + TMZ data, the median survival (20.3 v 14.6 months, respectively) and percentage of patients surviving at 24 months (41.7% v 26.5%, respectively; P = .02) seemed superior. The percentage of patients methylated at O(6)-methylguanine-DNA methyltransferase was lower than on the EORTC study (29% v 43%, respectively). Talampanel was well tolerated and did not increase the known hematologic or nonhematologic toxicities of TMZ., Conclusion: Talampanel can be added to RT + TMZ without significant additional toxicity. The encouraging survival results in methylated and unmethylated patients suggest that blocking AMPA receptors may be a useful strategy in newly diagnosed glioblastoma.

Object: This study was undertaken to evaluate the association between age at diagnosis, patterns of care, and outcome among elderly individuals with anaplastic astrocytoma (AA) and glioblastoma multiforme (GBM). Methods Using the Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results database, the authors identified 1753 individuals with primary GBM and 205 individuals with primary AA (diagnosed between June 1991 and December 1999) who were 66 years and older and whose records were linked to Medicare information. To facilitate gathering of prediagnosis comorbidity and postdiagnosis treatment information, only those individuals were included who had the same Medicare coverage for 6 months before and 12 months after diagnosis. The odds of undergoing various combinations of treatments and the associations with outcome were calculated by tumor type and age and adjusted by various predictors., Results: Age was not associated with treatment differences in individuals with AA. Very elderly individuals (>or= 75 years old) with GBM were more likely to have biopsy only (odds ratio [OR] 2.53, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.78-3.59), surgery only (OR 1.47, 95% CI 1.15-1.87), or biopsy and radiation (OR 1.39, 95% CI 1.07-1.82) and were less likely to receive multimodal therapy. Regardless of patient age or lesion histological characteristics, survival was decreased in patients treated with biopsy only. Individuals with GBM who had surgery only or biopsy and radiation had worse outcomes than individuals treated with surgery and radiation. There were no differences in survival by lesion histological characteristics. Very elderly individuals with malignant astrocytomas were more likely to receive limited treatment (most pronounced in individuals with GBM). Survival variation correlated with treatment combinations., Conclusions: These findings suggest that in clinical neurooncology patient age is associated with not receiving effective therapies and hence worse prognosis.