Optimizing Neurocognition With Whole Brain Radiation Therapy (WBRT) Using Upfront Pulsed Reduced Dose-Rate (PRDR) Technique

April 27, 2026 updated by: Michael Straza, MD, PhD, Medical College of Wisconsin

Optimizing Neurocognition With Whole Brain Radiation Therapy (WBRT) Using Upfront Pulsed Reduced Dose-Rate (PRDR) Technique (ONCO-RT) - A Phase II Trial of Upfront Pulsed Reduced Dose Rate Whole-Brain Radiation Therapy for Brain Metastases

Study patients will receive Whole-brain radiation therapy (WBRT) - pulsed reduced dose rate (PRDR) within 14 days of registration. All patients will receive single daily fractions using 3D conformal radiotherapy. A dose of 30 Gy in 10 fractions will be delivered using the PRDR technique.

Study Overview

Status

Status

Indicates the current recruitment status or the expanded access status.
Recruiting

Conditions

Conditions

The disease, disorder, syndrome, illness, or injury that is being studied. On ClinicalTrials.gov, conditions may also include other health-related issues, such as lifespan, quality of life, and health risks.

Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.

Detailed Description

This is a phase II, single-arm, multi-center study assessing the feasibility and tolerance of WBRT using upfront PRDR in the treatment of solid tumor brain metastases. This study will also examine the impact of substituting PRDR for standard whole-brain radiation therapy in the upfront treatment of brain metastases on neurocognitive decline as compared to historical controls. Additionally, clinical patient outcomes associated with radiation treatment of brain metastases will be collected. Using a group sequential design with one interim analysis to stop for futility, the investigators will recruit and enroll 53 adult patients (≥18 years) undergoing upfront treatment of brain metastases to determine feasibility and a preliminary analysis after the first 27 enrolled patients.

In order to be eligible for this study, patients must have a biopsy-proven solid malignancy with intracranial lesions radiographically consistent with or pathologically proven to be brain metastases. Patient who are confirmed to meet all eligibility criteria will be registered to the study and start PRDR WBRT within two weeks postregistration. Patients will receive PRDR WBRT as a dose of 30Gy in 10 fractions and start memantine orally two days prior to (or one day prior to) but no later than the fourth PRDR WBRT treatment session.

Study Type

Study Type

Describes the nature of a clinical study. Study types include interventional studies (also called clinical trials), observational studies (including patient registries), and expanded access.
Interventional

Enrollment (Estimated)

Enrollment

The number of participants in a clinical study. The "anticipated" enrollment is the target number of participants that the researchers need for the study.
53

Phase

Phase

The stage of a clinical trial studying a drug or biological product, based on definitions developed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The phase is based on the study's objective, the number of participants, and other characteristics. There are five phases: Early Phase 1 (formerly listed as Phase 0), Phase 1, Phase 2, Phase 3, and Phase 4. Not Applicable is used to describe trials without FDA-defined phases, including trials of devices or behavioral interventions.
  • Phase 2

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Contact

Study Contact

The name and contact information for the person who can answer enrollment questions for a clinical study. Each location where the study is being conducted may also have a specific contact, who may be better able to answer those questions.
  • Name: Medical College of Wisconsin Cancer Center Clinical Trials Office
  • Phone Number: 8900 866-680-0505
  • Email: cccto@mcw.edu

Study Locations

  • United States
    • Wisconsin
      • Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States, 53226
        • Recruiting
        • Froedtert Hospital & the Medical College of Wisconsin
        • Contact:
      • Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States, 53295
        • Recruiting
        • Clement J. Zablocki Veterans Affairs Medical Center
        • Contact:
        • Principal Investigator:
          • Lindsay Puckett, MD

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

The key requirements that people who want to participate in a clinical study must meet or the characteristics they must have. Eligibility criteria consist of both inclusion criteria (which are required for a person to participate in the study) and exclusion criteria (which prevent a person from participating). Types of eligibility criteria include whether a study accepts healthy volunteers, has age or age group requirements, or is limited by sex.

Ages Eligible for Study

18 years and older (Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  1. Age ≥18 years at diagnosis of brain metastases.
  2. Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) Performance Score of <2.
  3. Participants must have a biopsy-proven solid malignancy (histologic proof or unequivocal cytologic proof solid tumor malignancy from either the primary or any metastatic site) with intracranial lesions radiographically consistent with or pathologically proven to be brain metastases.
  4. Patients who have undergone prior systemic therapy are eligible.
  5. Life expectancy from extracranial disease greater than six months.
  6. Patients with measurable brain metastasis.
  7. Patients may have had prior therapy for brain metastasis, including stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS)and surgical resection. Patients must have completed prior therapy by at least 7 days prior to study enrollment for SRS and at least 14 days for surgical resection
  8. If an open biopsy is performed, the patient must be at least one-week post-biopsy. This requirement is not necessary for stereotactic biopsies.
  9. Creatinine clearance is ≥ 30 mL/min.
  10. Start of PRDR WBRT within two weeks following registration.
  11. Ability to complete the Neurocognitive Function (NCF) test battery (including people whose primary language is English).
  12. Patients with previous or other malignancies whose disease is controlled and not impacting ECOG performance or life expectancy.
  13. Willing and able to give consent and to comply with treatment and follow-up schedule.

Exclusion Criteria:

  1. Metastases from hematological malignancy, or central nervous system malignancy.
  2. Patients whose malignancy is being treated with curative intent.
  3. Leptomeningeal metastases.
  4. Contraindication to MRI imaging with contrast.
  5. Contraindication to memantine including concurrent use of N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) antagonists.
  6. Stage IV-V chronic kidney disease or end-stage renal disease.
  7. Participants with a maximum tumor diameter exceeding 5 cm (if not resected).
  8. Prior cranial whole brain radiation therapy.
  9. Past medical history of dementia which is thought to be unrelated to the brain metastases.
  10. Women of childbearing potential who are known to be pregnant or are unwilling to use an acceptable method of contraception from the time of informed consent until completion of the course of radiotherapy.
  11. Patients must not have a serious medical or psychiatric illness that would, in the opinion of the treating physician, prevent informed consent or completion of protocol treatment, and/or follow-up visits.
  12. Non-native English speakers will be excluded since patients often lose their faculty with the language they acquired second before their native language is affected in the context of cognitive decline. This could adversely affect performance on verbal cognitive tasks.

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Treatment
  • Allocation: N/A
  • Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm

Participant Group / Arm

A group or subgroup of participants in a clinical trial that receives a specific intervention/treatment, or no intervention, according to the trial's protocol.
Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.
Experimental: WBRT-PRDR plus memantine.
Study patients will receive WBRT-PRDR within 14 days of registration. All patients will receive single daily fractions using 3D conformal radiotherapy. A dose of 30 Gy in 10 fractions will be delivered using the PRDR technique. Memantine should ideally start two days (or one day) prior to WBRT PRDR and must start no later than the fourth WBRT PRDR treatment and will continue for a maximum of 24 weeks (≈six months). Memantine will be administered as per standard institutional guidelines.
Drug: Memantine -Twice Daily or Extended Release

Both extended release memantine and twice daily memantine dosing will be allowed.

Twice daily dosing:

The target dose for memantine is 20 mg (10 mg divided twice daily). Dose will be escalated by 5 mg each week to a target of 10 mg twice daily (i.e., 5 mg a day on week 1, then 5 mg twice daily (BID) on week 2, then 10 mg in AM plus 5 mg in PM on week 3, followed by 10 mg in AM plus 10 mg in PM by week 4).

Extended Release Memantine:

The target dose for extended release memantine is 28 mg. Dose will be escalated by 7 mg per week to a target of 28 mg daily (i.e., 7 mg a day on week 1, then 14 mg a day on week 2, then 21 mg a day on week 3, followed by 28 mg a day by week 4).

Other Names:
  • Namenda
Radiation: WBRT utilizing the PRDR technique
The total dose of 3000 cGy (30 Gy) will be divided 10 fractions of 300 cGy (3 Gy); each fraction will be delivered as a series of 20 cGy (0.2Gy) pulses separated by 3 min time intervals. 20 cGy / 3 min = 6.67 cGy/min (or 0.0667 Gy/min). Total time is determined by the fractionated series and time intervals, meaning 300cGy/20cGy = 15 division x 3 minutes = 45 minutes. Including time to set up, approximate total time per treatment session will be 60 minutes.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Primary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, the planned outcome measure that is the most important for evaluating the effect of an intervention/treatment. Most clinical studies have one primary outcome measure, but some have more than one.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Successful completion of PRDR WBRT treatment
Time Frame: 5 days
The number of subjects successfully completing PRDR WBRT treatment within five days of intended treatment completion.
5 days

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Sponsor

The organization or person who initiates the study and who has authority and control over the study.
Medical College of Wisconsin

Investigators

Investigators

A researcher involved in a clinical study. Related terms include site principal investigator, site sub-investigator, study chair, study director, and study principal investigator.
  • Principal Investigator: Michael Straza, MD, Medical College of Wisconsin

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

Study Start

The actual date on which the first participant was enrolled in a clinical study. The "anticipated" study start date is the date that the researchers think will be the study start date.
November 17, 2021

Primary Completion (Estimated)

Primary Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention to collect final data for the primary outcome measure. Whether the clinical study ended according to the protocol or was terminated does not affect this date. For clinical studies with more than one primary outcome measure with different completion dates, this term refers to the date on which data collection is completed for all the primary outcome measures. The "anticipated" primary completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the primary completion date for the study.
May 1, 2028

Study Completion (Estimated)

Study Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention/treatment to collect final data for the primary outcome measures, secondary outcome measures, and adverse events (that is, the last participant's last visit). The "anticipated" study completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the study completion date.
May 1, 2029

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

First Submitted

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submitted a study record to ClinicalTrials.gov. There is typically a delay of a few days between the first submitted date and the record's availability on ClinicalTrials.gov (the first posted date).
September 7, 2021

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submits a study record that is consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. The sponsor or investigator may need to revise and submit a study record one or more times before NLM's QC review criteria are met. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
September 7, 2021

First Posted (Actual)

First Posted

The date on which the study record was first available on ClinicalTrials.gov after National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review has concluded. There is typically a delay of a few days between the date the study sponsor or investigator submitted the study record and the first posted date.
September 16, 2021

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

Last Update Posted

The most recent date on which changes to a study record were made available on ClinicalTrials.gov. There may be a delay between when the changes were submitted to ClinicalTrials.gov by the study's sponsor or investigator (the last update submitted date) and the last update posted date.
May 1, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator submitted changes to a study record that are consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
April 27, 2026

Last Verified

Last Verified

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator confirmed the information about a clinical study on ClinicalTrials.gov as accurate and current. If a study with a recruitment status of recruiting; not yet recruiting; or active, not recruiting has not been confirmed within the past 2 years, the study's recruitment status is shown as unknown.
April 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

Other Study ID Numbers

Identifiers or ID numbers other than the NCT number that are assigned to a clinical study by the study's sponsor, funders, or others. These numbers may include unique identifiers from other trial registries and National Institutes of Health grant numbers.
  • PRO00041354

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

Yes

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

Yes

product manufactured in and exported from the U.S.

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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