Journal of neurosurgery
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Journal of neurosurgery · Apr 1991
Letter Biography Historical ArticleValsalva maneuver or Paré maneuver?
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Journal of neurosurgery · Mar 1991
Clinical TrialInterstitial chemotherapy with drug polymer implants for the treatment of recurrent gliomas.
Malignant gliomas have been difficult to treat with chemotherapy. The most effective agent, BCNU (carmustine), has considerable systemic toxicity and a short half-life in serum. To obviate these problems, a method has been developed for the local sustained release of chemotherapeutic agents by their incorporation into biodegradable polymers. ⋯ Frequent hematology, blood chemistry, and urinalysis tests did not reveal any systemic effect from this interstitial chemotherapy. Since the therapy is well tolerated and safe, a placebo-controlled clinical trial has been started. The trial will measure the effect of the second treatment dose on survival of patients with recurrent malignant glioma.