Adjuvant chemotherapy in the treatment of high grade gliomas

Nitrosourea-based regimens were long considered the standard chemotherapy options for HGG, but their toxicity is not negligible. Temozolomide (TMZ) is a promising new drug that seems to be effective in patients with recurrent disease. Clinically and statistically significant survival benefit with the administration of TMZ concomitant and after radiotherapy has been recently demonstrated, establishing a new standard in HGG adjuvant treatment. Randomized comparisons with nitrosoureas are lacking and represent a major issue to be studied in future phase III trials.