Bendamustine Hydrochloride in Treating Patients With Recurrent or Progressive Anaplastic Glioma

PRIMARY OBJECTIVES: I. The primary endpoint for this study is the 6-month progression-free survival-i.e., the proportion of patients who remain alive and free of any tumor progression at 6 months. SECONDARY OBJECTIVES: I. To determine the safety of single agent bendamustine (Treanda) (bendamustine hydrochloride) the treatment of malignant gliomas. II. To determine the efficacy of bendamustine (Treanda) as a single agent as assessed by progression-free survival (PFS) at 6 months. III. To assess quality of life using the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-Brain (FACT-BR). OUTLINE: Patients receive bendamustine hydrochloride intravenously (IV) over 30-90 minutes on days 1-2. Treatment repeats every 28 days for at least 6 courses in the absence of disease progression or unacceptable toxicity. After completion of study treatment, patients are followed up at 30 days and then every 2 months for up to 3 years.