Clinical trial · Interventional
Memory Avoidance Whole Brain Radiotherapy vs Hippocampal Avoidance Whole Brain Radiotherapy (Athena 2 Trial)
A Randomized Phase 2 Trial of Memory Avoidance Whole Brain Radiotherapy Versus Hippocampal Avoidance Whole Brain Radiotherapy (Athena 2 Trial)
- Source
- ClinicalTrials.gov
- Retrieved
- Sep 26, 2026
- Layer
- normalized (units and labels harmonized; values unchanged)
- Run
- ING-CLINICALTRIALS-20260926-000001
Summary
Brief summary (as posted)
Participants in this research study have cancer that has spread to their brain, called brain metastases. One treatment for this type of cancer is called whole brain radiotherapy that stays away from a specific neurocognitive substructure, called the hippocampus, combined with medication to preserve cognitive function. This study compares that approach to another approach of whole brain radiotherapy that stays away from additional structures that are thought to have a role in cognitive function. Researchers want to see if there is a difference in the preservation of cognitive function between these two approaches.
Conditions
Conditions (1)
Free-text conditions as registered, with the CancerIndex entity they were reconciled to and the match type.
| Condition (as posted) | Mapped entity | Match | Confidence |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brain Metastases | Brain Neoplasm | ONTOLOGY_EXACT | 0.90 |
Interventions
Interventions (3)
| Intervention | Type | Mapped drug | Match |
|---|---|---|---|
| HA-WBRT (Hippocampal Avoidance Whole Brain Radiation Therapy (HA-WBRT)) | Radiation | — | UNRESOLVED |
| MA-WBRT (Memory Avoidance Whole Brain Radiation Therapy (MA-WBRT)) | Radiation | — | UNRESOLVED |
| Memantine | Drug | — | UNRESOLVED |
Design
Arms and outcomes
Arms (2)
- type
- EXPERIMENTAL
- label
- Memory Avoidance Whole Brain Radiation Therapy (MA-WBRT)
- interventionNames
- Radiation: MA-WBRT (Memory Avoidance Whole Brain Radiation Therapy (MA-WBRT))
- Drug: Memantine
- type
- ACTIVE_COMPARATOR
- label
- Hippocampal Avoidance Whole Brain Radiation Therapy (HA-WBRT)
- interventionNames
- Radiation: HA-WBRT (Hippocampal Avoidance Whole Brain Radiation Therapy (HA-WBRT))
- Drug: Memantine
Primary outcomes (21)
- measure
- Time to neurocognitive failure (NCF)
- timeFrame
- Up to 12 months
- description
- Time to NCF is defined as cognitive decline on the reliable change index (RCI) on at least one of the following tests: HVLT-R, TMT A/B, COWAT, BVMT-R. Tests are defined below.
Eligibility
Eligibility (as posted)
- Sex
- All
- Minimum age
- 18 Years
Show eligibility criteria text
Inclusion Criteria: * Participants must have histologically, cytologically, or radiographically confirmed diagnosis of solid tumor with brain metastases * Age \>18 years * Performance status: Karnofsky Performance Status (KPS) ≥ 70 * Estimated life expectancy of at least 3 months * Participant must be considered a candidate for WBRT by the treating physician * Participant must be a primary English speaker and have the ability to understand and the willingness to sign an English written informed consent document * Participant has at least 10 brain metastases or is otherwise suitable for WBRT Exclusion Criteria: * Prior whole brain radiation * Participant has Multiple Sclerosis, Alzheimer's, dementia, or mental disability * Pregnant or breastfeeding women are excluded from this study. * Participant is not able to receive an MRI * Participant has metastasis within avoidance neurocognitive substructures (hippocampus, amygdala, fornix, corpus callosum, pituitary, amygdala)
References
Publications (1)
- DERIVEDPalmer JD, Dawson EL, Sun Y, Yu J, Dibs K, Ritter AR, Boulter D, Nalin AP, Singh R, Beyer SJ, Zhu S, Blakaj DM, Grecula JC, Raval RR, Vazquez S, Whitman S, Presley CJ, Pillainayagam C, Giglio P, Thomas EM, Perlow HK. An initial report of memory avoidance whole brain radiotherapy to treat brain metastases. Neurooncol Adv. 2026 Aug 13;8(1):vdag211. doi: 10.1093/noajnl/vdag211. eCollection 2026 Jan-Dec. PMID 42677319