Combined radiotherapy and chemotherapy with dibromodulcitol and CCNU in the postoperative treatment of malignant gliomas

Abstract

Within 4 weeks after definitive surgery, 91 patients with supratentorial glioblastomas and malignant astrocytomas were randomized to one of three treatment arms: Group 1 received radiotherapy alone; Group 2 received dibromodulcitol (DBD) during radiotherapy, and treatment was then continued with DBD; and Group 3 received DBD during radiotherapy, followed by combination chemotherapy of CCNU and DBD. No severe myelotoxicity occurred, but combined treatment with CCNU and DBD occasionally caused a transient myelosuppression. Statistical analysis of 84 evaluable patients showed a significantly longer survival period in those who received chemotherapy during and after irradiation. Median survival times in the three groups were 40, 57, and 60 weeks, respectively; the corresponding p value for Groups 2 and 3 was 0.025 and 0.0015. The ratio of patients surviving over 18 and 24 months was highest in Group 3. This study suggests that the administration of DBD during irradiation might have been the main factor in improving survival times.