EGFR Inhibition Using Weekly Erlotinib for Recurrent Malignant Gliomas

This is a pilot study of erlotinib for subjects who have a brain tumor called a glioblastoma or another malignant glioma, which has continued to grow after treatment. The purpose of this study is to test the effectiveness of a drug called erlotinib in treating the tumor. The study drug, erlotinib (also called Tarceva) is a pill (taken by mouth) that has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the subjects with other cancers (lung cancer or pancreatic cancer). It is not approved for glioblastoma or another malignant glioma. Erlotinib blocks a messenger that tells cancer cells to grow. That messenger is called Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor (EGFR). This type of tumor contains a form of EGFR called variant number 3 (abbreviated EGFR variant III or EGFRvIII for short) that is different from the normal form.Research suggests that erlotinib is particularly effective at stopping EGFRvIII. Research also suggests that high doses of erlotinib taken once per week may be more effective than low doses of erlotinib taken once per day.