Study of the Effect of GM-CSF on Macrophages in Ependymoma

Inclusion Criteria:

• Age > 12 months and < 21 years at the time of study enrollment.

• Patients must be one of the following:

  • Newly diagnosed with posterior fossa ependymoma with a subtotal resection at initial surgery. These patients will be eligible for stratum 1.

  • Be in first relapse of their posterior fossa ependymoma. These patients will be eligible for stratum 2.
• Histologically confirmed diagnosis of intracranial ependymoma .
• Pre or post-operative MR imaging of the brain demonstrates no evidence of non-contiguous spread beyond the primary site
• Pre or post-operative MR imaging of the spine demonstrates no evidence of non-contiguous spread beyond the primary site

• Pre-operative CSF cytology obtained from the lumbar CSF space demonstrated no evidence of non-contiguous spread beyond the primary site.

  • The requirement for lumbar CSF examination may be waived if deemed to be medically contraindicated.

• Patients must meet one of the following performance scores.

  • ECOG performance status scores of 0, 1, or 2.

  • Karnofsky score of ≥ 50 for patients > 16 years of age or Lansky score of ≥ 50 for patients ≤ 16 years of age
• Organ Function Requirements:

Adequate renal function defined as:

• Creatinine clearance or radioisotope GFR ³ 70ml/min/1.73 m2 or
• A serum creatinine based on age/gender as follows:

Age Maximum Serum Creatinine (mg/dL) Male Female

1 month to < 6 months 0.4 0.4 6 months to < 1 year 0.5 0.5

1 to < 2 years 0.6 0.6 2 to < 6 years 0.8 0.8 6 to < 10 years 1 1 10 to < 13 years 1.2 1.2 13 to < 16 years 1.5 1.4

≥ 16 years 1.7 1.4 The threshold creatinine values in this Table were derived from the Schwartz formula for estimating GFR (Schwartz et al. J. Peds, 106:522, 1985) utilizing child length and stature data published by the CDC.

• Adequate liver function defined as:
• Total bilirubin =< 1.5 x upper limit of normal (ULN) for age, and
• SGOT (AST) or SGPT (ALT) < 3 x upper limit of normal (ULN) for age.
• Patients with Gilbert syndrome or hemolytic anemia are eligible if total bilirubin is < 3 x upper limit of normal (ULN) for age.
• Adequate Bone Marrow Function defined as:
• Peripheral absolute neutrophil count (ANC) >= 1,000/uL
• Platelet count >= 100,000/uL (transfusion independent).

Exclusion Criteria:

• Patients with a diagnosis of spinal cord ependymoma, myxopapillary ependymoma, subependymoma, ependymoblastoma, supratentorial ependymoma, or mixed glioma are NOT eligible.
• Patients with evidence of metastatic disease by MRI or CSF cytology are NOT eligible