Successful treatment with apatinib for refractory recurrent malignant gliomas: a case series

Malignant glioma (MG) is a common and refractory primary tumor with a high recurrence rate. There is still a lack of effective therapy for recurrent MG (rMG). We present here two cases of refractory rMG treated using apatinib, which is a new highly selective inhibitor to VEGFR. Case 1, a 37-year-old female, was diagnosed with recurrent intracerebral high-grade glioma and failed to almost all treatments (including temozolomide, bevacizumab, nimotuzumab, reradiation, etc) during her second relapse. Case 2, a 40-year-old male, was diagnosed with recurrent glioblastoma multiforme for the third time following multiple treatments including resurgery, temozolomide and radiation. These two patients were treated with oral apatinib (500 mg daily) during their most recent relapse and experienced rapid relief of central nervous system symptoms. Case 1 achieved near complete response evaluated by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) after 6, 12 and 20 weeks medication and had an overall survival of 27 weeks. Case 2 achieved partial response evaluated by MRI after 4 and 12 weeks medication and had a progression-free survival of 12 months. The preliminary results of these two cases indicate that apatinib has outstanding efficacy for refractory rMG. It is worthwhile to develop a Phase II clinical trial to further evaluate the efficacy and toxicity of apatinib for rMG.