Dr. van den Bent on Adjuvant Temozolomide in Anaplastic Glioma

Martin J. Van Den Bent, MD, professor, Neuro-Oncology, Erasmus MC-Daniel den Hoed Cancer Center, the Netherlands, discusses the results of an interim analysis of the randomized phase III CANTON trial, which investigated concurrent and adjuvant treatment with temozolomide (Temodar) in patients with anaplastic glioma without a 1p/19q co-deletion.

A total of 750 patients were enrolled in the trial to address whether concurrent and adjuvant temozolomide would increase survival in this patient population, van den Bent says. Results of a planned interim analysis for efficacy, which was done after 41% of events occurred, showed that adjuvant temozolomide led to an increase in 5-year survival from 44% to 56%. This is associated with a hazard ratio of 0.64 and a P value of .003.

These findings suggest that adjuvant treatment with temozolomide should become standard of care after radiation therapy for these patients, van den Bent says. However, further follow-up is required to determine what efficacy concurrent use of temozolimide has in this population.