New therapeutic agents in the treatment of recurrent high-grade gliomas.

The incidence of central nervous system neoplasias ranges from 3.8 to 5.1 cases per 100,000 inhabitants. In the presence of recurrence, the treatment is problematic; chemotherapy is experimental, primarily because the response is palliative and of limited duration. This article analyses the new drugs that have been introduced in the treatment of these patients in the latest years, the objective response, the time to progression and the mean survival time. The most encouraging results to date come from studies of temozolomide, which is one of the most active and best tolerated drugs in recent years. New approaches to the chemotherapy treatment are necessary. Enrolment of patients into rigorous, well-conducted, clinical trials, both at tumour diagnosis and after tumour recurrence, will generate new information regarding investigational therapies and may offer improved therapies for patients with malignant gliomas.