Combination Chemotherapy Followed by Peripheral Stem Cell Transplantation or Bone Marrow Transplantation in Treating Patients With Brain Cancer

Inclusion Criteria

• •DISEASE CHARACTERISTICS:
• •Diagnosis of one of the following malignant brain tumors:
• •* Anaplastic astrocytoma
• •* Glioblastoma multiforme
• •* Anaplastic oligodendroglioma
• •* Medulloblastoma
• •* High-grade ependymoma
• •* Germ cell tumors
• •* Pineoblastoma
• •* Other primitive neuroectodermal tumors
• •Recurrent disease or resistant to conventional therapy (e.g., surgery, radiotherapy, or standard chemotherapy)
• •* No prior myeloablative doses of thiotepa OR
• •Newly diagnosed malignant glioma with minimal residual disease after prior radiotherapy
• •* Minimal residual disease is defined as tumor with maximum diameter of less than 1.5 cm by MRI and no corticosteroid dependency
• •PATIENT CHARACTERISTICS:
• •Age:
• •Over 1 to under 50
• •Performance status:
• •Karnofsky 70-100% OR
• •Lansky 70-100%
• •Life expectancy:
• •More than 12 weeks
• •Hematopoietic:
• •Absolute neutrophil count at least 1,500/mm3
• •Platelet count at least 100,000/mm3
• •Hemoglobin at least 10 g/dL (transfusion allowed)
• •Hepatic:
• •Bilirubin less than 1.5 times upper limit of normal (ULN)
• •SGOT/SGPT less than 2.5 times ULN
• •Alkaline phosphatase less than 2.5 times ULN
• •Renal:
• •Creatinine less than 1.5 times ULN
• •Creatinine clearance at least 70 mL/min
• •BUN less than 1.5 times ULN
• •Cardiovascular:
• •Ejection fraction greater than 50% OR
• •Shortening fraction greater than 27%
• •No evidence of myocardial ischemia on EKG if over 40 years of age
• •Other:
• •HIV negative
• •No AIDS-related illness
• •No frequent vomiting or medical condition that would preclude oral medication (e.g., partial bowel obstruction)
• •No other malignancy within the past 2 years except surgically cured carcinoma in situ of the cervix or basal cell or squamous cell skin cancer
• •Not pregnant or nursing
• •Negative pregnancy test
• •Fertile patients must use effective contraception
• •PRIOR CONCURRENT THERAPY:
• •Biologic therapy:
• •At least 2 weeks since prior biologic therapy or immunotherapy
• •Chemotherapy:
• •See Disease Characteristics
• •At least 4 weeks since prior chemotherapy (6 weeks for nitrosoureas or mitomycin) and recovered
• •Endocrine therapy:
• •See Disease Characteristics
• •Radiotherapy:
• •See Disease Characteristics
• •At least 6 weeks since prior radiotherapy and recovered
• •At least 6 weeks since prior brachytherapy or radiosurgery
• •Surgery:
• •See Disease Characteristics
• •Recovered from prior major surgery