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Combination Chemotherapy in Treating Children With Astrocytomas and Primitive Neuroectodermal Tumors

Study Purpose

RATIONALE: Drugs used in chemotherapy use different ways to stop tumor cells from dividing so they stop growing or die. Combining more than one drug may kill more tumor cells. PURPOSE: Phase II trial to study the effectiveness of methotrexate, mechlorethamine, vincristine, procarbazine, and prednisone in treating children with astrocytomas or primitive neuroectodermal tumors.

Recruitment Criteria

Accepts Healthy Volunteers Healthy volunteers are participants who do not have a disease or condition, or related conditions or symptoms	No
Study Type An interventional clinical study is where participants are assigned to receive one or more interventions (or no intervention) so that researchers can evaluate the effects of the interventions on biomedical or health-related outcomes. An observational clinical study is where participants identified as belonging to study groups are assessed for biomedical or health outcomes. Searching Both is inclusive of interventional and observational studies.	Interventional
Eligible Ages	N/A - 3 Years
Gender	All

More Inclusion & Exclusion Criteria

DISEASE CHARACTERISTICS: Histologically proven previously untreated (except surgically) primitive neuroectodermal tumors (including medulloblastoma, anaplastic ependymoma, ependymoblastoma, or pineoblastoma) or high-grade astrocytomas Low-grade astrocytomas or optic tract tumors that are incompletely resected and have a progressive course not amenable to further surgery may also be allowed Evaluable disease by MRI, CT scan, or CT myelography.PATIENT CHARACTERISTICS: Age: Under 4 years Performance status: Not specified Life expectancy: At least 12 weeks Hematopoietic: Absolute granulocyte count greater than 1,500/mm3 WBC greater than 4,000/mm3 Platelet count greater than 100,000/mm3 Hepatic: Bilirubin less than 1.5 mg/dL SGPT less than 90 IU/dL Renal: Creatinine clearance greater than 80 mL/min.PRIOR CONCURRENT THERAPY: Biologic therapy: No concurrent immunotherapy Chemotherapy: No prior mechlorethamine, vincristine, procarbazine, and prednisone (MOPP) No prior high-dose methotrexate No other concurrent chemotherapy Endocrine therapy: Not specified Radiotherapy: No concurrent radiotherapy Surgery: See Disease Characteristics Other: Recovered from acute toxic effects of any prior therapy Must be on a tyramine-free diet during procarbazine administration

Trial Details

Trial ID: This trial id was obtained from ClinicalTrials.gov, a service of the U.S. National Institutes of Health, providing information on publicly and privately supported clinical studies of human participants with locations in all 50 States and in 196 countries.	NCT00002463
Phase Phase 1: Studies that emphasize safety and how the drug is metabolized and excreted in humans. Phase 2: Studies that gather preliminary data on effectiveness (whether the drug works in people who have a certain disease or condition) and additional safety data. Phase 3: Studies that gather more information about safety and effectiveness by studying different populations and different dosages and by using the drug in combination with other drugs. Phase 4: Studies occurring after FDA has approved a drug for marketing, efficacy, or optimal use.	Phase 2
Lead Sponsor The sponsor is the organization or person who oversees the clinical study and is responsible for analyzing the study data.	M.D. Anderson Cancer Center
Principal Investigator The person who is responsible for the scientific and technical direction of the entire clinical study.	Joann Ater, MD
Principal Investigator Affiliation	M.D. Anderson Cancer Center
Agency Class Category of organization(s) involved as sponsor (and collaborator) supporting the trial.	Other, NIH
Overall Status	Completed
Countries	United States
Conditions The disease, disorder, syndrome, illness, or injury that is being studied.	Brain and Central Nervous System Tumors

Additional Details

OBJECTIVES:

I. Determine the efficacy of high-dose methotrexate (HMTX) in combination with mechlorethamine, vincristine, prednisone, and procarbazine (MOPP) in infants or young children with primitive neuroectodermal tumors (PNET) (including medulloblastoma, anaplastic ependymoma, ependymoblastoma, or pineoblastoma) or high-grade astrocytoma.

II. Determine whether the addition of HMTX to MOPP (MMOPP) improves the continuous complete response rate of MOPP alone and eliminates the need for salvage with radiotherapy in these patients.

III. Determine the ability of MMOPP to provide neuroaxis prophylaxis or to treat spinal metastasis without radiotherapy in infants or young children with PNET.

IV. Determine the toxicity of this regimen in terms of neurologic and neuropsychologic sequelae, growth, and development in these patients.

V. Correlate the efficacy of this regimen with the histopathologic diagnosis of these patients.

VI. Determine the optimum method for radiographic evaluation of spinal cord disease in patients with PNET.

VII. Determine the utility of sequential spinal cord radiography as a means of monitoring PNET in these patients.

OUTLINE: Patients undergo maximum tumor debulking. Patients who have undergone incomplete resection proceed to induction. Patients with a primary diagnosis of primitive neuroectodermal and pineal tumors or glioblastoma multiforme who have undergone total resection proceed to induction. Induction: Patients receive high dose methotrexate (HMTX) IV over 6 hours on day 1. Beginning 3 hours after completion of HMTX infusion, leucovorin calcium (CF) is administered IV over 30 minutes every 3 hours for 9 doses. Beginning 3 hours after completion of the last CF infusion, oral CF is administered every 6 hours for 8 doses. Patients receive a second HMTX infusion beginning 1 week after completion of the first HMTX infusion. Beginning 1 week after completion of the second HMTX infusion, patients receive mechlorethamine IV and vincristine IV on days 1 and 8, oral procarbazine and oral prednisone on days 1-10, and tapered doses of prednisone on days 11-13 (MOPP). Maintenance: Beginning 4 weeks after initiating the first course of MOPP, patients receive HMTX on day 1 and MOPP beginning on day 4. Treatment continues every 31 days in the absence of disease progression or unacceptable toxicity. After 1 year or 14 doses of HMTX, whichever occurs first, HMTX is discontinued and treatment with MOPP alone continues every 4 weeks in the absence of disease progression or unacceptable toxicity. Treatment is discontinued after 2 years if the patient is in continuous complete remission. PROJECTED ACCRUAL: A total of 5-25 patients will be accrued for this study within 24-30 months.

Arms & Interventions

Arms

Experimental: Combination Chemotherapy

Methotrexate, Mechlorethamine, Vincristine, Prednisone, and Procarbazine

Interventions

Drug: - MOPP Regimen

Methotrexate, Mechlorethamine, Vincristine, Prednisone, and Procarbazine (MMOPP)

Drug: - Leucovorin Calcium

Drug: - Mechlorethamine Hydrochloride

Drug: - Methotrexate

Drug: - Prednisone

Drug: - Procarbazine Hydrochloride

Drug: - Vincristine Sulfate

Procedure: - Conventional Surgery

Contact a Trial Team

If you are interested in learning more about this trial, find the trial site nearest to your location and contact the site coordinator via email or phone. We also strongly recommend that you consult with your healthcare provider about the trials that may interest you and refer to our terms of service below.

Houston, Texas

Status

Address

University of Texas - MD Anderson Cancer Center

Houston, Texas, 77030-4009

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