A PHASE II TRIAL OF ETOPOSIDE AND CISPLATIN IN THE TREATMENT OF RECURRENT EPENDYMOMAS

OBJECTIVES: I. Assess the efficacy and toxicity of etoposide and cisplatin in patients with recurrent ependymomas.

OUTLINE: All patients receive cisplatin followed by etoposide on days 1-3. Treatment repeats every 4 weeks for a total of 6 courses unless disease progression or unacceptable toxicity intervenes. The etoposide dose may be increased by 10% on subsequent courses if the white blood cell and platelet nadirs on the previous course are at least 3,000 and 100,000, respectively. Patients are followed every 2 months for 6 months, then every 3 months for 4.5 years.

PROJECTED ACCRUAL: A total of 35 patients will be entered over approximately 7 years if there are 3-8 responses in the first 13 patients and 7-9 responses in the first 25 patients.