Aminolevulinic Acid During Surgery in Treating Patients With Malignant Brain Tumors

PRIMARY OBJECTIVES I. Establish a safe dose for oral ALA administration. SECONDARY OBJECTIVES I. Determine which of 3 ALA (aminolevulinic acid) doses (10, 20 or 30 mg/kg) provide optimal discrimination between normal and malignant tissue intraoperatively. II. Determine whether or not the use of ALA (compared to comparable cases performed without the aid of ALA) leads to a higher rate of gross total resection, as determined by postoperative MRI scanning within 48 hour of surgery completion. III. Compare time-to-progression and survival to that in comparable cases performed without the aid of ALA. OUTLINE: This is a phase I, dose-escalation study Patients receive aminolevulinic acid orally (PO) 4 hours before undergoing surgery. After completion of study treatment, patients are followed up at week 5 and then every 8-12 weeks for 27 months.