Novel chemotherapeutic approaches to brain tumors

Malignant gliomas remain a devastating clinical problem despite intensive efforts at multimodality therapy, This article reviews the current understanding of the role of chemotherapy in the treatment of gliomas. Recent investigational drug therapies include the use of new agent, dose intensification, intra-arterial administration, blood-brain barrier disruption, interstitial chemotherapy, modulation of drug resistance, and the use of biologic agents. Oligodendroglial tumors and primary central nervous system lymphoma are clearly more sensitive to chemotherapy than other primary brain tumors, although the optimal drug and treatment schedules remain to be determined.