부산대학교 도서관

BACKGROUND: To evaluate the antitumor activity and toxicity of single-agent cetuximab in patients with recurrent high-grade glioma (HGG) after failure of surgery, radiation therapy, and chemotherapy. PATIENTS AND METHODS: In this two-arm, open-label, phase II study patients were stratified according to their epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) gene amplification status. Cetuximab was administered intravenously at a dose of 400 mg/m on week 1 followed by weekly dose of 250 mg/m. The primary end point for this study was the response rate in both study arms separately. RESULTS: Fifty-five eligible patients (28 with and 27 without EGFR amplification) tolerated cetuximab well. Three patients (5.5%) had a partial response and 16 patients (29.6%) had stable disease. The median time to progression was 1.9 months [95% confidence interval (CI) 1.6–2.2 months]. Whereas the progression-free survival (PFS) was <6 months in the majority (n=50/55) of patients, five patients (9.2%) had a PFS on cetuximab of >9 months. Median overall survival was 5.0 months (95% CI 4.2–5.9 months). No significant correlation was found between response, survival and EGFR amplification. CONCLUSIONS: Cetuximab was well tolerated but had limited activity in this patient population with progressive HGG. A minority of patients may derive a more durable benefit but were not prospectively identified by EGFR gene copy number.