RATIONALE: New imaging procedures such as magnetic resonance imaging may improve the ability to determine the growth rate of progressive astrocytoma. PURPOSE: Phase II trial to study the effectiveness of magnetic resonance imaging in treating children who have progressive low- grade astrocytoma.

Condition	Treatment or Intervention	Phase
recurrent childhood cerebral astrocytoma low-grade childhood cerebral astrocytoma	Procedure: Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)	Phase II

Further Study Details: 

OBJECTIVES: I. Determine if tumor growth rate can be decreased by targeting areas of increased choline activity, as measured by magnetic resonance spectroscopic imaging, in pediatric patients with progressive low grade astrocytoma treated with surgical resection and/or focal radiotherapy. II. Improve the quality of life without use of aggressive surgery or radiotherapy in this patient population.

PROTOCOL OUTLINE: Patients undergo magnetic resonance spectroscopic imaging (MRSI) over 60 minutes prior to surgery and/or radiotherapy. Patients are assigned to one of two treatment arms based on tumor accessibility and may crossover to either arm. Arm I: Patients undergo conventional surgery. Arm II: Patients with inaccessible tumors undergo focal radiotherapy. Following surgery and/or radiotherapy, patients are followed every 4 months for up to 2 years with MRSI or MRI for tumor response and growth.

PROJECTED ACCRUAL: A total of 24 patients will be accrued for this study over 2 years.

Ages Eligible for Study:  up to  12 Years

Criteria

PROTOCOL ENTRY CRITERIA:

--Disease Characteristics--

• Diagnosis of low grade astrocytoma in the hypothalamus, brain stem, or thalamus of 5 cm on T2 weighted scans; Incomplete surgical resection
• Previously treated with evidence of tumor progression
• No hemispheric or cerebellar masses

--Prior/Concurrent Therapy--

• See Disease Characteristics

--Patient Characteristics--

• Performance status: Not specified
• Life expectancy: Not specified
• Hematopoietic: Not specified
• Hepatic: Not specified
• Renal: Not specified

California
      Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center, UCLA, Los Angeles,  California,  90095-1781,  United States

Study chairs or principal investigators

Jeffry Alger,  Study Chair,  Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center   

Study ID Numbers:  CDR0000067693; UCLA-9702077; NCI-G00-1728
Record last reviewed:  June 2004
Last Updated:  October 13, 2004
Record first received:  April 6, 2000
ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier:  NCT00005084
Health Authority: United States: Federal Government
ClinicalTrials.gov processed this record on 2005-04-08