Brain cancer trial tests Chemo-First strategy to spare patients from radiation side effects
NCT ID NCT05331521
First seen Jun 27, 2026 · Last updated Jun 27, 2026
Summary
This phase 3 trial tests a new chemotherapy combination (CETEG) for adults with a slow-growing brain tumor called oligodendroglioma. The goal is to see if starting with chemo alone can delay or avoid radiation therapy, which can cause long-term cognitive and quality-of-life problems. The study will compare this approach to the current standard of chemoradiation, measuring how long patients live without significant functional decline.
What this could mean
Our plain-language read of the trial. This is informational only, not medical advice or a prediction.
- Active substance
- CETEG (lomustine and temozolomide)
- What this could lead to
- If successful, this approach could delay the need for brain radiation, preserving cognitive function and quality of life for people with oligodendroglioma.
- What could go wrong
- This is an early-stage trial with 406 participants, and the new chemo combo may not be as effective as standard treatment. There is also a risk of side effects from the chemotherapy drugs.
This is an AI summary of the original study and may miss details. Read our disclaimer.
Study facts
What this study's own registry entry says, in plain language.
- Phase
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Phase 3
Large-scale testing in a bigger group. Usually the last step before a treatment can be approved.
- Participants
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About 406 people
The number the study aims to enrol. It can still change while the study runs.
- Started
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Apr 2021
- Expected to finish
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Mar 2033
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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18 years and older
- 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: 1. Histologically confirmed, newly diagnosed CNS WHO grade 2 or 3 glioma. 2. Tumor carries an isocitrate dehydrogenase (IDH) mutation (determined by immunohistochemistry (IHC) and/or deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) sequencing). 3. Tumor is co-deleted for 1p/19q (determined by copy number variations, fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH), multiplex ligation-dependent probe amplification (MLPA) or other appropriate methods). 4. Biopsy (with sufficient tissue for molecular pathology) or resection. 5. Age: ≥18 years. 6. Karnofsky Performance status (KPI) ≥60%. 7. Life expectancy \>6 months. 8. Availability of formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded (FFPE) or fresh-frozen tissue and ethylenediamine tetraacetic acid (EDTA) blood for biomarker research. 9. Standard magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) ≤ 72 h post-surgery according to the present national and international guidelines. 10. Craniotomy or intracranial biopsy site must be adequately healed. 11. ≥ 2 weeks and ≤ 3 months from surgery without any interim radio- or chemotherapy or experimental intervention. 12. Willing and able to comply with regular neurocognitive and health-related quality of life tests/questionnaires. 13. Indication for postsurgical cytostatic/-toxic therapy. 14. Written Informed consent. 15. Female patients with reproductive potential have a negative pregnancy test (serum or urine) day -6 until day 0 of screening (and 3 days prior to first IMP-intake or RT). Female patients are surgically sterile or agree to use adequate contraception during the period of therapy and 7 months after the end of study treatment, or women have been postmenopausal for at least 2 years. 16. Male patients are willing to use contraception Exclusion Criteria: 1. Participation in other ongoing interventional clinical trials. 2. Inability to undergo MRI. 3. Abnormal (≥ Grade 2 CTCAE v5.0 laboratory values for hematology (Hb, WBC, neutrophils, or platelets), liver (serum bilirubin, ALT, or AST) or renal function (serum creatinine). 4. Clinically active tuberculosis; known HIV infection or active Hepatitis B (HBV) or Hepatitis C (HCV) infection, or active infections requiring oral or intravenous antibiotics or that can cause a severe disease and pose a severe danger to lab personnel working on patients' blood or tissue (e.g. rabies). 5. Any prior anti-cancer therapy or co-administration of anti-cancer therapies other than those administered/allowed in this study. History of low-grade glioma that did not require prior treatment with chemotherapy or radiotherapy is not an exclusion criterion. 6. Immunosuppression, not related to prior treatment for malignancy. 7. History of other malignancies (except for adequately treated basal or squamous cell carcinoma or carcinoma in situ) within the last 5 years unless the patient has been disease-free for 5 years. 8. Any clinically significant concomitant disease (including hereditary fructose intolerance) or condition that could interfere with, or for which the treatment might interfere with, the conduct of the study or the absorption of oral medications or that would, in the opinion of the Principal Investigator, pose an unacceptable risk to the patient in this study. 9. Any psychological, familial, sociological, or geographical condition potentially hampering compliance with the study protocol requirements and/or follow-up procedures; those conditions should be discussed with the patient before trial entry. 10. Pregnancy or breastfeeding. 11. History of hypersensitivity to the investigational medicinal product or to any drug with similar chemical structure or to any excipient present in the pharmaceutical form of the investigational medicinal product. (E.g.: In the discretion of the investigator patients are allowed to take part in the study even if they suffer from celiac disease: Cecenu contains very small amounts of gluten (from wheat starch). It is considered gluten-free and is tolerated by patients suffering from celiac disease. One capsule contains no more than 4 micrograms of Gluten.) 12. QTc time prolongation \>500 ms. 13. Patients under restricted medication for procarbazine, lomustine, vincristine and temozolomide. 14. Liver disease characterized by: 1. ALT or AST (≥ Grade 2 CTCAE v5.0) confirmed on two consecutive measurements OR 2. Impaired excretory function (e.g., hyperbilirubinemia) or synthetic function or other conditions of decompensated liver disease such as coagulopathy, hepatic encephalopathy, hypoalbuminemia, ascites, and bleeding from esophageal varices (≥ Grade 2 CTCAE v5.0) OR 3. Acute viral or active autoimmune, alcoholic, or other types of acute hepatitis. 15. Known uncorrected coagulopathy, platelet disorder, or history of non-drug induced thrombocytopenia. 16. History of autoimmune disease, including but not limited to myasthenia gravis, myositis, autoimmune hepatitis, systemic lupus erythematosus, rheumatoid arthritis, inflammatory bowel disease, vascular thrombosis associated with antiphospholipid syndrome, Wegener's granulomatosis, Sjögren's syndrome, Guillain-Barré syndrome, multiple sclerosis, vasculitis, or glomerulonephritis; autoimmune-related hypothyroidism (patients on a stable dose of thyroid replacement hormone are eligible for this study) and type I diabetes mellitus (patients on a stable dose of insulin regimen are eligible for this study). 17. Vaccination with life vaccines during treatment and 4 weeks before start of treatment. 18. Existing neuromuscular diseases, especially neural muscular atrophy with segmental demyelination (demyelinising form of Charcot-Marie-Tooth syndrome). 19. Chronic constipation and subileus. 20. Combination treatment with mitomycin (risk of a pronounced bronchospasm and acute shortness of breath). 21. Hypersensitivity to dacarbazine (DTIC). 22. Patients with hereditary galactose intolerance, complete lactase deficiency or glucose-galactose malabsorption (Temodal contains Lactose). 23. Patients with clinical wheat allergy.
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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
19 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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Charité, University Medicine Berlin, Neurosurgery
RECRUITINGBerlin, 10117, Germany
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Chemnitz Hospital, Neurosurgery
RECRUITINGChemnitz, 09116, Germany
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Helios Hospital Schwerin, Neurosurgery
RECRUITINGSchwerin, 19049, Germany
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Knappschaftskrankenhaus Bochum GmbH, Neurology Clinic
RECRUITINGBochum, 44892, Germany
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University Clinic Muehlenkreis, Minden
RECRUITINGMinden, 32429, Germany
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University Hospital Bonn, Neurology Clinic
RECRUITINGBonn, 53127, Germany
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University Hospital Cologne, Neurosurgery
RECRUITINGCologne, 50937, Germany
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University Hospital Duesseldorf, Neurooncology
RECRUITINGDüsseldorf, 40225, Germany
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University Hospital Frankfurt, Neurooncology
RECRUITINGFrankfurt, 60528, Germany
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University Hospital Göttingen, Neurosurgery
RECRUITINGGöttingen, 37075, Germany
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University Hospital Heidelberg, Department of Neurooncology
RECRUITINGHeidelberg, Baden-Wurttemberg, 69120, Germany
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University Hospital Leipzig, Radiation Therapy
RECRUITINGLeipzig, 04103, Germany
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University Hospital Mannheim, Neurology Clinic
RECRUITINGMannheim, 68167, Germany
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University Hospital Regensburg, Neurology Clinic
RECRUITINGRegensburg, 93053, Germany
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University Hospital Saarland, Neurosurgery
RECRUITINGHomburg, 66421, Germany
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University Hospital Tuebingen, Neurooncology
RECRUITINGTübingen, 72076, Germany
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University Hospital Wuerzburg, Neurosurgery
RECRUITINGWürzburg, 97080, Germany
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University Hospital of Jena, Neurosurgery
RECRUITINGJena, 07747, Germany
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University Hospital rechts der Isar, Radiation Oncology
RECRUITINGMunich, 81675, Germany
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