Neuropsychological Care for Maintaining Quality of Life After Radiation Therapy in Patients With Brain Metastases

December 18, 2025 updated by: Joshua Palmer, Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center

Effect of Early Integrated Neuropsychological Care in Patients With Brain Metastases - A Phase 2 Randomized Controlled Trial

This phase II trial studies the effect of neuropsychological evaluation and intervention in maintaining quality of life after radiation therapy in patients with cancer that has spread to the brain (metastases). Quality of life refers to the overall enjoyment of life. It holds varying meanings for different people and may evolve over time. For some individuals it implies autonomy, empowerment, capability, and choice; for others, security, social integration, or freedom from stress or illness. Neuropsychological evaluation is used to examine the cognitive (thinking) consequences of brain damage, brain disease, and severe mental illness. Deterioration of both quality of life and cognitive function is common when receiving radiation to the brain. Neuropsychological evaluation with a certified neuropsychologist may improve quality of life or cognitive function after radiation therapy.

Study Overview

Status

Active, not recruiting

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

PRIMARY OBJECTIVE:

I. To evaluate the efficacy of neuropsychological assessment and follow up on preventing decline of quality of life (QOL) as evaluated by the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy Scale-Brain (FACT-Br) score (validated QOL tool for brain metastases).

SECONDARY OBJECTIVES:

I. To evaluate the efficacy of early neuropsychological assessment and neurocognitive rehabilitation by a neuropsychologist on prevention of neurocognitive decline in patients treated with radiation to brain metastases as evaluated by the Hopkins Verbal Learning Test-Revised (HVLT-R) Delay Recall, Trail Making Test A/B (TMT A/B), and Controlled Oral Word Association Test (COWAT), and Patient Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS)-8 assessment.

II. To identify subsets of patients treated with whole brain radiation therapy (WBRT) or stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) who receive greater benefits of neuropsychologic evaluation through examining baseline Fact-Br, HVLT-R, TMT A/B, COWAT, and PROMIS-8 completed prior to radiation therapy delivery.

OUTLINE: Patients are randomized to 1 of 2 arms.

ARM I: Patients undergo neuropsychological evaluations with a certified neuropsychologist at baseline, 3 months, and 6 months.

ARM II: Patients receive usual care.

After completion of standard of care radiation therapy, patients are followed up at 3, 6, and 12 months.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

110

Phase

  • 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 Locations

  • United States
    • Ohio
      • Columbus, Ohio, United States, 43210
        • Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center

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

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Child
  • Adult
  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Stage IV histologic diagnosis of solid tumor
  • Patient will be treated with radiation therapy for brain metastases
  • Primarily English-speaking patient
  • Graded Prognostic Assessment (GPA) >= 2 (estimated survival > 6 months)

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Patient received prior whole brain radiation therapy to the brain
  • Patient has multiple sclerosis, Alzheimer's, dementia, or mental disability

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: Supportive Care
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Active Comparator: Arm II (usual care)
Patients receive usual care.
Other: Quality-of-Life Assessment
Ancillary studies
Other Names:
  • Quality of Life Assessment
Other: Questionnaire Administration
Ancillary studies
Other: Best Practice
Receive usual care
Other Names:
  • standard of care
  • standard therapy
Experimental: Arm I (neuropsychological evaluation)
Patients undergo neuropsychological evaluations with a certified neuropsychologist at baseline, 3 months, and 6 months.
Other: Quality-of-Life Assessment
Ancillary studies
Other Names:
  • Quality of Life Assessment
Other: Questionnaire Administration
Ancillary studies
Behavioral: Neuropsychological Assessment
Undergo neuropsychological evaluation
Other Names:
  • Neuropsychological Examination

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Quality of life (QOL)
Time Frame: Up to 12 months after radiation therapy
Will be measured by the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy Scale-Brain instrument. Linear models will be employed to measure QOL score (converted to a 0- to 100-point scale).
Up to 12 months after radiation therapy

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Sponsor

Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Joshua D Palmer, MD, Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

Helpful Links

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)

August 30, 2022

Primary Completion (Estimated)

June 28, 2026

Study Completion (Estimated)

June 28, 2026

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

August 9, 2022

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

August 15, 2022

First Posted (Actual)

August 16, 2022

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

December 24, 2025

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

December 18, 2025

Last Verified

December 1, 2025

More Information

Terms related to this study

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • OSU-21074
  • NCI-2022-02216 (Registry Identifier: CTRP (Clinical Trial Reporting Program))

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

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

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.

Subscribe