PRELIMINARY RESULTS OF THE 8-IN-ONE-DAY THERAPY IN PEDIATRIC BRAIN TUMORS

Between January 1990- February 1991, 12 patients 2,5-17 yr. of age, with 9 primary and 3 recurrent brain tumors, were treated with combined modality treatment consisting of surgery, radiotherapy and eight drug chemotherapy. 10 patients did incomplete and 2 had complete tumor resection. Objective tumor response was achieved (3 CR, 5 PR) in 8 patients out of 10, who had received radiotherapy after surgery. Only 6 cases were e valuable for tumor response after 3 courses of chemotherapy. Partial response was achieved in only one patient who had not received postop radiotherapy. Chemotherapy did not yield any additive effect to surgery + radiotherapy in rest of the patients. During 44 courses of chemotherapy, the major complications were found to be myelosuppression, nephrotoxicity and ototoxicity. In conclusion, 8-in-one-day chemotherapy has not yielded a good tumor response when applied after surgery and radiotherapy.