O6-Benzylguanine and Temozolomide in Treating Young Patients With Recurrent or Progressive Gliomas or Brain Stem Tumors

PRIMARY OBJECTIVES: I. Determine the sustained objective response rate to the combination of O6-benzylguanine and temozolomide in pediatric patients with recurrent or progressive high-grade gliomas and brain stem tumors. SECONDARY OBJECTIVES: I. Determine the toxicity of this regimen in these patients. OUTLINE: This is a multicenter study. Patients are stratified according to tumor type (high-grade gliomas vs brain stem tumors). Patients receive O6-benzylguanine IV over 1 hour followed by oral temozolomide on days 1-5. Treatment repeats every 28 days for up to 12 courses in the absence of disease progression or unacceptable toxicity. After completion of study treatment, patients are followed to the earliest of 30 days following discontinuation of therapy or the initiation of additional anti-cancer therapy or death. PROJECTED ACCRUAL: A total of 50 patients will be accrued for this study.