The research team concluded that adding etoposide to the standard treatment does not help children and young people with low grade glioma.
This was an international
phase 3 trial. 497 children and young people with low grade glioma and who were having chemotherapy for the first time took part.
This was a
randomised trial. Everyone was put into 1 of the following treatment groups by computer:
- 249 children and young people had vincristine and carboplatin (VC group)
- 248 children and young people had vincristine, carboplatin and etoposide (VCE group)
Neither they nor their doctor could choose which group they were in.
After around 24 weeks of the start of treatment, people had a scan to see how well the treatment was working.
The research team looked at the scan results for 211 children and young people from the VC group. They found that in:
- 3 children the cancer disappeared (complete response
)
- 59 children the cancer shrunk to at least half the size (partial response
)
- 36 children the cancer shrunk to at least a third, but no more than half the size (improvement)
- 98 children the cancer stayed the same (stable disease
)
- 15 children the cancer got worse (disease progression
)
The team also looked at the scan results for 210 children and young people from the VCE group. They found that in:
- 3 children the cancer disappeared
- 50 children the cancer shrunk to at least half the size
- 33 children the cancer shrunk to at least a third, but no more than half the size
- 106 children the cancer stayed the same
- 18 children the cancer got worse
The team looked at the number of children and young people who were alive after 5 years. They found that almost 9 in every 10 people (89%) were alive after 5 years, in both groups.
The trial team also looked at the most common side effects people had, in both groups. They found that there were more
infections 
in the VCE group. The VC group had more cases of allergic reactions to the treatment.
So, the team concluded that adding etoposide to the standard treatment does not help children and young people with low grade glioma. They think more research should be done to look at the length of time children and young people have chemotherapy for.
We have based this summary on information from the research team. The information they sent us has been reviewed by independent specialists (
peer reviewed 
) and published in a medical journal. The figures we quote above were provided by the trial team who did the research. We have not analysed the data ourselves.