Search

Poor prognosis of patients suffering from malignant gliomas has not changed in the last decade. The 5-year survival rates are still disappointing (less than 5%). Chemotherapy is given either for adjuvant treatment or in case of relapse. The nitrosoureas playa leading role in chemotherapy of gliomas. They are of small molecular size, lipid soluble and are bound only minimally to protein, which enables them to cross the intact blood-brain-barrier (“bbb”). A similar penetration is known for Procarbazine (PCB). Other cytostatic agents e.g. Dacarbazine (DTIC), Ifosfamide (IFO) and Teniposide (VM-26) do not cross the “bbb”. Various degrees of alterations in the “bbb” are known in patients suffering from brain tumours. This fact makes the prediction of the success following treatment with a given cytostatic drug difficult. Clinicians have looked for experimental models which enable valid preclinical screening of cytostatic drugs. One of the best models for this purpose is the athymic nude mouse. Subcutaneously implanted human gliomas can be directly observed for their response to different chemotherapies.