Etoposide for recurrent spinal cord ependymoma

Primary spinal cord tumors are uncommon malignancies of the CNS and constitute 5–10% of all primary CNS malignancies.1 We report a prospective Phase 2 trial in 10 consecutive adult patients with recurrent low-grade cellular spinal cord ependymoma treated with the oral chemotherapy agent etoposide. All patients underwent an initial subtotal tumor resection and six underwent a second subtotal resection at the time of first tumor recurrence (table). Median time to second resection was 3.75 years (range 3–7.5); overall median time to recurrence was 4.25 years (range 3–8 years). One patient declined further surgery. Three patients in whom tumor manifested as CSF dissemination did not undergo surgery again. View this table: Table 1. Patient characteristics and treatment Six patients were treated with etoposide after their first tumor relapse, and four patients were treated after a second tumor relapse. Four patients received carboplatin or PCV-3 (treatment duration 5–8 months, median 5.5) at time of first …