Central nervous system tumors of childhood treated with CCNU, vincristine, and radiation.

CCNU was used in the treatment of 18 patients with childhood tumors of the CNS. Severe bone-marrow toxicity was noted. The initial dose was 130 mg/m2 given every 6 weeks, but it was often necessary to reduce the dose and prolong the interval between doses. The toxicity appeared to be much the same whether previous radiotherapy had been given to the whole CNS or to the brain only. In assessable patients with pur medulloblastoma, three out of three showed marked responses to CCNU. In those with a mixture of medulloblastoma and other tumor components, two out of two showed responses to CCNU. In children with astrocytomata of various types, only two out of six showed responses to CCNU, and in these the degree of response was slight. The results suggest that CCNU is a useful treatment for medulloblastoma but its value in the treatment of childhood astrocytoma is uncertain. In 6 patients who received both radiotherapy and CCNU, the contribution of the CCNU was not assessable.