Treatment of Malignant Gliomas with Surgery, Intra-arterial Infusions of 1-(2-Hydroxyethyl)chloroethylnitrosourea, and Radiation Therapy: A Phase II Study

Forty patients with malignant supratentorial gliomas were treated with surgery, intra-arterial infusions of 1-(2-hydroxyethyl) chloroethylnitrosourea, and radiation therapy. The median duration of survival was 12 months: it differed according to the histological subtype (over 30 months for patients with anaplastic astrocytomas or anaplastic oligoden-droglioma and 10.5 months for glioblastoma; P= 0.0025). Serious complications of monocular blindness and leukoencephalopathy were observed in four patients (10%).