Maintenance Chemotherapy or Observation Following Induction Chemotherapy and Radiation Therapy in Treating Patients With Newly Diagnosed Ependymoma

Completed · Phase 3

Conditions studied: Anaplastic Ependymoma, Brain Ependymoma, Cellular Ependymoma, Clear Cell Ependymoma, Ependymoma, Papillary Ependymoma

In brief

The primary aim of this randomized phase III trial was to study whether the addition of maintenance chemotherapy delivered after surgical resection and focal radiation would be better than surgery and focal radiation alone. The trial also studied if patients who received induction chemotherapy and then either achieved a complete response or went on to have a complete resection would also benefit from maintenance chemotherapy. Children ages 1-21 years with newly diagnosed intracranial ependymoma were included. There were 2 arms that were not randomized. One arm studied patients with Grade II tumors located in the supratentorial compartment that were completely resected. One arm studied patients with residual tumor and those patients all received maintenance chemotherapy after focal radiation. Chemotherapy drugs, such as vincristine sulfate, carboplatin, cyclophosphamide, etoposide, and cisplatin, work in different ways to stop the growth of tumor cells, either by killing the cells, by stopping them from dividing, or by stopping them from spreading. Giving more than one drug (combination chemotherapy) may kill more tumor cells. Radiation therapy uses high-energy x-rays to kill tumor cells. Specialized radiation therapy that delivers a high dose of radiation directly to the tumor may kill more tumor cells and cause less damage to normal tissue. Giving chemotherapy in combination with radiation therapy may kill more tumor cells and allow doctors to save the part of the body where the cancer started.

Key facts

Study ID: NCT01096368
Run by: Children's Oncology Group
People needed: 479
Starts: 2010-05-07
Expected to finish: 2026-03-31
Last updated by the study team: 2026-04-30

Who can join

Age: 1 and older, up to 21. Sex: any. Healthy volunteers: not accepted.

You may qualify if…

Patients must be newly diagnosed with histologically confirmed intracranial ependymoma; patients with classic ependymoma (WHO II) or anaplastic ependymoma (WHO III) are eligible, as are various subtypes described as clear cell, papillary, cellular or a combination of the above
There is no minimum performance level; children with ependymoma may suffer neurologic sequelae as a result of their tumor or surgical measures taken to establish a diagnosis and resect the tumor; in the majority of cases, there is neurologic recovery; neurologic recovery is not likely to be impeded by protocol therapy
REGULATORY: All patients and/or their parents or legal guardians must sign a written informed consent
REGULATORY: All institutional, Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and National Cancer Institute (NCI) requirements for human studies must be met

You may not qualify if…

Patients with evidence of metastatic disease will be excluded; any evidence of non-contiguous spread beyond the primary site as determined by pre or post-operative magnetic resonance (MR) imaging of brain, pre or post-operative MR imaging of the spine, and post-operative cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) cytology obtained from the lumbar CSF space (the requirement for lumbar CSF examination may be waived if deemed to be medically contraindicated); CSF cytology from a ventriculostomy or permanent ventriculoperitoneal (VP) shunt that reveals the presence of tumor cells is indicative of metastatic disease
Patients with a diagnosis of spinal cord ependymoma, myxopapillary ependymoma, subependymoma, ependymoblastoma, or mixed glioma are NOT eligible
No prior treatment other than surgical intervention and corticosteroids; patients are allowed to have had more than one attempt at resection prior to enrollment
Pregnant female patients are not eligible for this study
Post-menarchal females may not participate unless a pregnancy test with a negative result has been obtained
Males and females of reproductive potential may not participate unless they have agreed to use an effective contraceptive method
Lactating females may not participate unless they have agreed not to breastfeed a child while on this study

Where it is running

University of Alabama at Birmingham Cancer Center — Birmingham, Alabama, United States
Banner Children's at Desert — Mesa, Arizona, United States
Phoenix Childrens Hospital — Phoenix, Arizona, United States
Banner University Medical Center - Tucson — Tucson, Arizona, United States
Arkansas Children's Hospital — Little Rock, Arkansas, United States
University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences — Little Rock, Arkansas, United States
Kaiser Permanente Downey Medical Center — Downey, California, United States
City of Hope Comprehensive Cancer Center — Duarte, California, United States
Loma Linda University Medical Center — Loma Linda, California, United States
Miller Children's and Women's Hospital Long Beach — Long Beach, California, United States
Children's Hospital Los Angeles — Los Angeles, California, United States
Cedars Sinai Medical Center — Los Angeles, California, United States
Valley Children's Hospital — Madera, California, United States
UCSF Benioff Children's Hospital Oakland — Oakland, California, United States
Kaiser Permanente-Oakland — Oakland, California, United States
Children's Hospital of Orange County — Orange, California, United States
Lucile Packard Children's Hospital Stanford University — Palo Alto, California, United States
Sutter Medical Center Sacramento — Sacramento, California, United States
University of California Davis Comprehensive Cancer Center — Sacramento, California, United States
Rady Children's Hospital - San Diego — San Diego, California, United States
UCSF Medical Center-Parnassus — San Francisco, California, United States
UCSF Medical Center-Mission Bay — San Francisco, California, United States
Children's Hospital Colorado — Aurora, Colorado, United States
Connecticut Children's Medical Center — Hartford, Connecticut, United States
Children's Hospital of Alabama — Birmingham, Alabama, United States

Full record on ClinicalTrials.gov

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