Successful combination chemotherapy (vincristine, procarbazine, etoposide, and prednisolone) in the treatment of inoperable, radioresistant low grade astrocytoma: a case report.

A case of successful combination chemotherapy using vincristine, procarbazine, VP-16 and prednisolone to treat an inoperable low grade astrocytoma is presented. This patient, whose tumor was also resistant to radiotherapy, had well controlled symptoms after the initiation of chemotherapy. A brain CT scan demonstrated disappearance of the tumor mass after eight courses of a combination chemotherapy regimen. She is at present symptom-free 80 months after diagnosis. This result suggests that combination chemotherapy may offer treatment modalities for low grade astrocytoma.