Phase II trial of cisplatinum and etoposide in brain metastases of solid tumors

Fourteen patients with brain metastases (BM) of solid tumors received intravenous cisplatinum, 40 mg/m2/day and etoposide, 150 mg/m2/day, for 3 days every 3 weeks. Primary tumors were lung (8 patients), breast (4), colon (1), and stomach (1). Two patients responded (1 complete response in a poorly differentiated lung cancer patient and 1 partial response in a breast cancer patient). The overall response rate was 14%, with a median survival of 6 months. Main toxicity was grade 3-4 neutropenia that occurred in 36% of patients. There were no toxic-related deaths. Chemotherapy as a single therapeutic regimen seems not to be an effective treatment for BM from relatively resistant solid tumors. Moreover, it produces rather high, although not life-threatening, hematologic toxicity.