ABSTRACT
Despite dramatic progress over the last 50 years in the treatment of many childhood cancers, primary brain tumors remain the leading cause of death in pediatric oncology. This phase II study evaluated the efficacy and safety of Antineoplastons A10 and AS2-1 given in combination (ANP). Thirty-four patients, with a median age of 10.4 years, were enrolled in the study. Thirty-two patients (94.1%), were Caucasians while 21 (61.8%) were female and 13 were male (38.2%). Twenty-four patients (70.6%) suffered from a brainstem glioma (BSG) or high-grade tumor. Ten patients (29.4%) suffered from a low-grade tumor. A distinct sub-group of three patients with low grade tumors had a ganglioglioma (GG). Eighty-two percent of patients had failed standard treatment. Daily ANP was administered by IV infusion, every four hours, until an objective response (OR) was documented, and then for an additional eight months. The median doses of A10 and AS2-1 were 11.64 g/kg/d and 0.45 g/kg/d, respectively. A complete response (CR) was documented in two patients (5.9%), a partial response (PR) in four patients (11.8%), and stable disease (SD) in six patients (17.6%). Objective responses were observed in diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma (DIPG), thalamic pilocytic astrocytoma with brainstem involvement, ganglioglioma and pilocytic astrocytoma. Six-month progression-free survival (PFS) was 35.3%. Overall survival (OS) at two and five years was 37.6% and 34.5%, respectively. Two patients experienced grade 4 hypernatremia while three experienced grade 3 hypokalemia. In this group of patients, ANP showed good efficacy and an acceptable toxicity profile.