Heart drug repurposed to fight rare brain cancer in kids
NCT ID NCT06701812
First seen Jun 27, 2026 · Last updated Aug 27, 2026 · Updated 4 times
Summary
This study tests whether digoxin, a heart medication, can help children and young adults with a specific type of relapsed brain cancer called non-WNT/non-SHH medulloblastoma. About 23 participants aged 1 to 29 will receive digoxin to see if it stops the cancer from growing for at least 4 months. The goal is to find a new treatment option for this hard-to-treat cancer.
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Study facts
What this study's own registry entry says, in plain language.
- Phase
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Phase 2
Tests whether the treatment actually works, and watches for side effects, in a larger group.
- Participants
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About 23 people
The number the study aims to enrol. It can still change while the study runs.
- Started
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Jan 2026
- Expected to finish
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Feb 2027
An estimate. End dates often move.
- Lead sponsor
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Other sponsor
The registry's catch-all category, for sponsors it does not file as a company, a government agency, or a research network.
Who can take part
This study's own entry requirements. Only the study team can say for certain whether you qualify.
- Ages
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12 months to 30 years
- Sex
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Anyone
- Healthy volunteers
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Not accepted
This study is not open to healthy volunteers. The entry requirements below say who it is open to.
Show the full entry requirements Hide the full entry requirements
Copied word for word from the study's registry entry, so the wording is the study team's rather than ours.
Inclusion Criteria: * Patients must be age \>12 months and \<30 years at the time of enrollment. * Patients must have relapsed non-WNT, non-SHH medulloblastoma confirmed by a CAP/CLIA certified assay (such as nanostring or methylation) performed on tissue from diagnosis or relapse. * Patients must have received at least one prior course of chemotherapy for their medulloblastoma. They must also have received irradiation. * Prior therapy: Therapy may not have been received more recently than the timeframes defined below: Craniospinal radiotherapy: At least 3 months have elapsed since prior craniospinal radiotherapy (at doses ≥ 18 Gy). Local radiotherapy: At least 3 months since prior local radiotherapy to primary tumor. Focal radiotherapy: At least 2 weeks since prior focal radiotherapy to symptomatic metastatic sites. Myelosuppressive chemotherapy and/or immunotherapy and/or biologics: More than 3 weeks since prior myelosuppressive chemotherapy (6 weeks for nitrosoureas), immunotherapy, or biologics. Hematopoietic growth factor: Seven days must have elapsed since the completion of therapy with colony-stimulating factors (e.g., filgrastim \[G-CSF\], sargramostim \[GM-CSF\], or erythropoietin), or platelet-stimulating agents. * Patients must have recovered from any surgical procedures such as biopsy, with neurological stability for \> 7 days. * Patients must have clear residual disease, defined as tumor that is measurable in two perpendicular diameters on MRI (ie, largest tumor diameter and its largest perpendicular). The size of a measurable lesion at baseline should be at least 2 times the thickness of the slices showing the tumor (adding the interslice gap). * Patients must have a Lansky or Karnofsky performance status score of ≥ 50%. Use Karnofsky for patients \> 16 years of age and Lansky for patients \< 16 years of age. Patients who are unable to ambulate but who are functional in a wheelchair will be considered ambulatory for the purpose of assessing the performance score. * Patients must have normal organ and marrow function. * Patient has no evidence of Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome or high-grade AV block (form of second-degree heart block) on screening ECG. * Patient has no evidence of hypertrophic obstructive cardiomyopathy on screening echo. * Any patient that reports recent palpitations (within the last month), or concerning findings on echo or ECG must be evaluated and cleared for treatment with digoxin by a cardiologist prior to enrollment. Study PI should be contacted for additional questions/concerns regarding these patients. * Patients receiving concurrent dexamethasone are eligible, provided dosage is stable or decreasing for ≥7 days prior to study enrollment. * Patients must have a stable neurologic status for ≥7 days prior to study enrollment. If a patient experiences neurologic decline following enrollment but prior to day 1 of cycle 1, they should be reassessed for eligibility. * Pregnancy: Females of childbearing potential must have a negative urine or serum pregnancy test prior to enrollment. Female patients who are lactating must agree to stop breastfeeding. * Women of child-bearing potential and men must agree to use adequate contraception (hormonal or barrier method of birth control; abstinence) prior to study entry and for the duration of study participation. Should a woman become pregnant or suspect she is pregnant while she or her partner is participating in this study, she should inform her treating physician immediately. * All patients and/or their parents or legal guardians must have the ability to understand and the willingness to sign a written informed consent or assent document. Exclusion Criteria: * Participants who are receiving concurrent anticancer or any other investigational agents are ineligible. * Participants taking digoxin for any reason during treatment for initial diagnosis of medulloblastoma or relapse are ineligible. Exposure to digoxin therapy prior to initial diagnosis of medulloblastoma is allowed. * Patients with a history of allergic reactions attributed to compounds of similar chemical or biologic composition to digoxin are ineligible. * Patients with serious or inadequately controlled cardiac arrhythmias, including baseline ectopy, ventricular tachycardia, frequent premature ventricular contractions (PVCs), or symptomatic sinus bradycardia are excluded from the study. * Patients taking medications that are known to interfere with digoxin metabolism are ineligible. * Participants with uncontrolled intercurrent illness, concurrent clinically significant unrelated systemic illness (e.g. serious infection) or significant cardiac, pulmonary, hepatic, or other organ dysfunction that would compromise the patient's ability to tolerate study treatment or would likely interfere with study procedures or results are ineligible. * Participants with psychiatric illness/social situations that would limit compliance with study requirements are ineligible. * Pregnant women or women unwilling to stop breastfeeding are excluded from this study because it is unknown how pregnant women with recurrent medulloblastoma will metabolize and tolerate digoxin. There is an unknown but potential risk for adverse events in nursing infants secondary to treatment of the mother with digoxin in this setting. * Participants who in the opinion of the investigator may not be able to comply with the safety monitoring requirements of the study.
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Conditions
The condition(s) this trial relates to.
As listed by the trial registrant
The condition terms exactly as the trial's registrant entered them.
How to take part
Only the study team decides who joins. These are the ways to reach them.
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The places running it
17 sites. The list below names each one and where it is.
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The official record
ClinicalTrials.gov lists the study team's own contact details, including names and phone numbers. We don't republish those.
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A doctor treating you
A doctor who knows your case can contact a study site on your behalf, and can tell you whether this study is worth pursuing at all.
Contacts and locations
Locations
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Arkansas Childrens Hospital
RECRUITINGLittle Rock, Arkansas, 72202, United States
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Children's National Medical Center
RECRUITINGWashington D.C., District of Columbia, 20010, United States
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Connecticut Children's Medical Center
RECRUITINGHartford, Connecticut, 06106, United States
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Johns Hopkins All Children's
RECRUITINGSt. Petersburg, Florida, 33701, United States
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Johns Hopkins Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center
RECRUITINGBaltimore, Maryland, 21218, United States
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Levine Cancer Institute
RECRUITINGCharlotte, North Carolina, 28204, United States
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Montefiore Medical Center
RECRUITINGThe Bronx, New York, 10467, United States
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Nemours Jacksonville
NOT_YET_RECRUITINGJacksonville, Florida, 32207, United States
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Phoenix Childrens Hospital
RECRUITINGPhoenix, Arizona, 85016, United States
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St. Joseph's Children's Hospital
RECRUITINGTampa, Florida, 33607, United States
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UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center
RECRUITINGChapel Hill, North Carolina, 27514, United States
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UT Southwestern
RECRUITINGDallas, Texas, 75390, United States
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University of Alabama at Birmingham Children's of Alabama
RECRUITINGBirmingham, Alabama, 35233, United States
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University of Kentucky
RECRUITINGLexington, Kentucky, 40536, United States
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University of Miami
RECRUITINGMiami, Florida, 33136, United States
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Vanderbilt University Medical Center
RECRUITINGNashville, Tennessee, 37232, United States
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Washington University St. Louis
RECRUITINGSt Louis, Missouri, 63130, United States
More trials for these conditions
Other studies related to the condition(s) this trial covers.
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- Can the Body's own immune cells beat a recurrent brain tumor?
- Can AI read tumor slides to outsmart childhood cancer?
- Could an antiparasitic drug boost radiation against childhood brain tumors?