DISEASE CHARACTERISTICS:

• Radiological or established histological diagnosis of glioma

  • WHO grade 2-4 disease

• Presence of a new or enlarging enhancing lesion on gadolinium-enhanced MRI after prior radiotherapy

  • Differentiation of recurrent tumor from radiation necrosis is not possible

• No clinically significant signs of uncal herniation, including any of the following:

  • Acute pupillary enlargement
  • Rapidly developing (i.e., over hours) motor changes
  • Rapidly decreasing level of consciousness

PATIENT CHARACTERISTICS:

• Platelet count ≥ 75,000/mm^3
• WBC ≥ 3,000/mm^3
• Gamma-glutamyl-transferase ≤ 5 times upper limit of normal (ULN)
• Absolute neutrophil count ≥ 1,500/mm^3
• Hemoglobin ≥ 10 g/dL
• SGOT and SGPT ≤ 2 times ULN
• Alkaline phosphatase ≤ 2 times ULN
• Lactic dehydrogenase ≤ 2 times ULN
• Direct and total bilirubin normal
• Amylase normal
• Haptoglobin normal
• Serum electrolytes normal
• CBC with platelets normal
• PT, PTT normal
• BUN and creatinine normal
• Not pregnant or lactating
• Urinalysis normal
• Negative pregnancy test

• Female patients must be postmenopausal for ≥ 1 year or surgically sterile, or on 1 of the following methods of birth control for ≥ 1 month: IUD, oral contraceptives, Depo-Provera, or Norplant

  • These criteria can be waived at the discretion of the investigator if the patient's intracranial tumor is considered life threatening and the 1-month wait required is not in the best interest of the patient
• No known allergic or hypersensitivity reactions to previously administered radiopharmaceuticals
• No known HIV positivity
• Not requiring monitored anesthesia for positron emission tomography scanning

PRIOR CONCURRENT THERAPY:

• Concurrent biopsy or neurosurgical procedure for diagnostic and/or therapeutic purposes for this cancer allowed
• Concurrent surgery for this cancer allowed