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BackgroundTreatment for recurrent glioblastoma is poor, and there is a need for better therapies. Here we retrospectively assessed the efficacy and toxicity of temozolomide plus apatinib, an oral small-molecule tyrosine kinase inhibitor targeting vascular endothelial growth factor receptor 2 in recurrent glioblastoma.Materials and MethodsA retrospective analysis of patients with recurrent glioblastoma who underwent apatinib plus temozolomide treatment was performed. Apatinib was given at 500 mg once daily. Temozolomide was administered at 200 mg/m2/d on days 1–5 or 50 mg/m2/d continuous daily according to whether they had experienced temozolomide maintenance treatment before. The main clinical data collected included tumor characteristics, status of MGMT promoter, and IDH mutation, number of relapse, response, survival, adverse reactions, and salvage therapies.ResultsFrom April 2016 to August 2019, thirty-one patients were identified. The objective response rate was 26.3%, and the disease control rate was 84.2%. The progression-free survival (PFS) at 6 months and overall survival (OS) at 12 months were 44.6 and 30.2%. The median PFS and OS were 4.9 and 8.2 months, respectively. Two patients achieved long PFS of 30.9 and 38.7+ months. The median survival time after progression of the patients with or without salvage bevacizumab was 5.1 versus 1.2 months. The most common grade 3 or 4 toxicities were hypertension (5.8%), decreased appetite (5.8%), and thrombocytopenia (4.3%), most of which were resolved after symptomatic treatment or dose reduction.ConclusionApatinib plus temozolomide is an effective salvage regimen with manageable toxicities for recurrent glioblastoma and could not reduce the sensitivity to bevacizumab.

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the efficacy and safety of high-dose methotrexate combined with temozolomide in the treatment of newly diagnosed primary central nervous system lymphoma. METHODS A retrospective study was performed to analyze the clinical data of patients with primary central nervous system lymphoma treated with high-dose methotrexate plus temozolomide in the Department of Neuro-oncology, Capital Medical University, Sanbo Brain Hospital from May 2010 to December 2018. RESULTS A total of 41 patients were identified. Median age was 57 years (range, 27–76 years). The maximal extent of surgery was total resection in 6, partial resection in 8, and biopsy in 27 patients. Of the 35 patients with evaluable lesions, 32 achieved complete response (CR) and 3 achieved partial response. CR rate was 91.4%. The median follow-up time was 36.5 months (range, 4.9–115.4 months). After treatment, the median progression-free survival (PFS) was 45.1 months. PFS rate at 1, 2, 5 years were 85.4%, 70.1% and 43.8%, respectively. The OS rate at 1, 2, 5 years were 92.7%, 82.4% and 66.5%, respectively. The median PFS of patients younger than 65 years was better than that of patients ≥65 years (98.8 months vs 27.9 months, p=0.039). There was no association between efficacy and extent of resection (p=0.836). After disease progression, 6 of the 21 patients received radiotherapy. There was no statistical difference in OS between the patients with or without radiotherapy (36.9 months vs 28.4 months). The main severe adverse events were myelosuppression (36.6%) and elevated transaminase (34.1%). Three patients were discontinued due to drug-related toxicities. CONCLUSIONS High-dose methotrexate combined with temozolomide is effective in the treatment of primary central nervous system lymphoma, with a low incidence of severe adverse reactions. This efficacy may be better than the historical control of methotrexate alone or methotrexate plus rituximab.

Background The optimal chemotherapeutics of recurrent disseminated glioblastoma has yet to be determined. We analyzed the efficacy and safety of recombinant human endostatin (rh-ES) combined with temozolomide and irinotecan in patients with recurrent disseminated glioblastoma. Methods We retrospectively reviewed 30 adult patients with recurrent disseminated glioblastoma treated with this combination chemotherapy at Department of Neuro-Oncology, Sanbo Brain Hospital, Capital Medical University of China from November 2009 to August 2018. Temozolomide was given orally at 200 mg/m2 daily for 5 days and rh-ES was administrated 15 mg/d daily for 14 days of each 28-day treatment cycle. Irinotecan was given intravenously every 2 weeks on a 28-day cycle at 340 mg/m2 or 125 mg/m2 depending on antiepileptic drugs. Primary endpoint was progression-free survival (PFS) at 6 months (6 m-PFS). Results The 6 m-PFS was 23.3%. The median PFS was 3.2 months. The overall survival rate (OS) at 12 months was 28.6%. The median OS was 6.9 months. Six out of 30 (20%) patients demonstrated partial radiographic response and 11 (36.7%) remained stable. The PFS of the 6 patients who got partial response was 5.8, 6.3, 6.9, 13.6, 15.8 and 16.6 months, respectively, and the median time interval of first response was 4 (range, 2.0–6.6) months. The most common adverse events were hematologic toxicities and gastrointestinal effects. The Grade ≥ 3 adverse event was hematologic toxicities. The adverse events were manageable. Conclusions Rh-ES, in combination with cytotoxic drugs, was an alternative effective regimen with manageable toxicities in treatment of recurrent disseminated glioblastoma.

OBJECTIVE: To analyze the response and toxicity of updated carboplatin and vincristine (CV) chemotherapy regimen in pediatric low-grade gliomas (LGGs) of the brain stem. METHODS: We modified the traditional CV regimen by increasing the carboplatin dose or combining with a new antiangiogenetic drug named recombinant human endostatin (rh-ES). 10 children who had low-grade gliomas (LGGs) of the brain stem and received modified CV regimen from August 2014 to August 2016 were reviewed. Carboplatin was administrated at a dose of 200~300 mg/m(2) and vincristine was 1.5 mg/m(2) (maximum dose of 2 mg). Three cases out of ten received modified carboplatin and vincristine combining rh-ES. RESULTS: 5 patients had objective response (1 had a complete response and 4 got a partial response). 2 got a minor response and 3 got stable diseases. All the patients’ diseases were effectively controlled. The median time for response was 3 (1.5-8) months. Two of three recurrent children had an objective response. All the three cases with carboplatin, vincristine and rh-ES chemotherapy regimen had objective response. Hematologic toxicity was common. The incidence of severe neutrocytopenia, decreased hemoglobin and thrombocytopenia was 8.8%, 5.3% and 1.5%, respectively. CONCLUSION: Modified CV regimen by increasing carboplatin dose or combining with a new antiangiogenetic drug of rh-ES could improve the effect of CV regimen, and would be helpful to quickly relieve the brain stem dysfunction by shortening the time for response in the pediatric newly diagnosed or recurrent brain stem LGGs. These modified regimens were relatively well tolerated.