Summery: "Recurrence in high grade glioma is inevitable. For patients with glioblastoma (GBM) treated with the current standard of care the survival is very less and less than 10% of patients surviving more than 5 years from diagnosis. Management of recurrent high grade requires a multidisciplinary approach. However surgical resection being potentially diagnostic and therapeutic. All high-grade gliomas would have received partial brain radiation. It is difficult to administer another “conventional” course of irradiation to the recurrent lesion and margin without risking adverse toxicity. Salvage chemotherapy is the commonest option utilized in this situation. Multiple agents have been used however consistent improvements in survival have not been proven. In view of the unsatisfactory results with the existing treatment options with the current agents there is an urgent felt need for newer agents. Current standard is single-agent CCNU.
In GBM cell lines, mebendazole has displayed cytotoxicity (cell killing). It has a broad spectrum of anthelmintic activity and is effective in the treatment of single or mixed helminthic infestations. Mebendazole is a universally available, affordable, oral, safe and efficious treatment. Hence it is important to study whether in a poor prognosis cancer like recurrent Glioma whether addition of Mebendazole improves outcomes.