Since July 1985, 23 patients have been entered into a phase I/II clinical trial using intraarterial 5-bromodeoxyuridine (BUdR) (400-600 mg/m2 daily for 8.5 weeks) and focal external beam radiotherapy (59.4 Gy at 1.8 Gy daily in 6.5 weeks) in the treatment of malignant gliomas (Kernohan grades 3 and 4). The side effects in all patients have included varying degrees of anorexia, fatigue, ipsilateral forehead dermatitis, blepharitis, and conjunctivitis. Mucopurulent conjunctivitis and exposure keratitis developed in several patients and spontaneous corneal perforation developed in one. Eyes from two individuals examined at autopsy showed significant changes. Animal studies that predated clinical trials using rhesus monkeys did not predict the ophthalmologic complications seen in human subjects.