New brain cancer treatment: take a chemotherapy pill

Dr. David N. Korones, of the University of Rochester Medical Center, has developed a new brain cancer treatment that looks promising. In a pilot study, Dr. Korones gave 24 adult patients with recurrent malignant glioma a pill containing the chemotherapy drugs temozolomide and etoposide. After six months, 16% of the adults saw their tumors shrink and 35% were stable with no disease progression. Dr. Korones also found similar results when children age 10 or older took the chemotherapy pill. Dr. Korones' goal is for patients to take the pill instead of having to come to the hospital for intravenous (IV) chemotherapy treatment.