Brain tumor patients may skip routine steroids during surgery
NCT ID NCT07044557
First seen Jun 26, 2026 · Last updated Jun 27, 2026 · Updated 1 time
Summary
This study is testing whether it is safe to avoid giving the steroid dexamethasone before, during, and for three weeks after brain metastasis surgery. The goal is to see if patients can avoid the side effects of steroids without needing extra rescue doses. The trial will enroll 35 adults with newly found brain tumors and a suspected or confirmed cancer elsewhere in the body.
What this could mean
Our plain-language read of the trial. This is informational only, not medical advice or a prediction.
- Active substance
- withholding dexamethasone (steroid)
- What this could lead to
- If successful, this could show that many patients with brain metastases can safely avoid routine steroids around surgery, reducing side effects.
- What could go wrong
- This is a very small, early-phase study (35 people) with no control group. It only tests whether steroids can be withheld, not whether this improves long-term outcomes. Some patients may still need rescue steroids.
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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Not a phased trial
Phase numbers describe drug development. The registry uses this when they do not apply, as it does for trials of devices, procedures or behaviour changes, and for observational studies.
- Participants
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About 35 people
The number the study aims to enrol. It can still change while the study runs.
- Expected to start
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Aug 2026
An estimate. Start dates often move.
- Expected to finish
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Oct 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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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.
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Copied word for word from the study's registry entry, so the wording is the study team's rather than ours.
Inclusion Criteria: 1. New brain tumor(s) on imaging 2. Visceral mass(es) suspicious or confirmed for neoplasm a. Patients with lung mass suspicious for primary lung cancer and no prior diagnosis must undergo biopsy of the lung mass prior to resection of brain metastasis(es) to exclude histology (i.e., small cell lung carcinoma) that would not benefit from resection 3. No contraindications for craniotomy 4. Age ≥ 18 years 5. ECOG performance status ≤ 2 (i.e., ambulatory \> 50% of waking hours) 6. Midline shift on MRI ≤ 10 mm 7. Craniotomy planned to resect \>75% of the enhancing mass (surgeon's judgment) Exclusion Criteria: 1. Presence of BMs not eligible for resection that are each \> 2 cm in any one dimension 2. \>4 BMs not eligible for resection that are each 2 cm in any one dimension 3. Treatment with laser interstitial thermal therapy (LITT) 4. High concern for primary CNS lymphoma 5. Diagnosis of small cell lung carcinoma 6. Any receipt of Dex 7. Steroid use in the past month 8. A condition that requires steroids 9. Stage 4 chronic kidney disease (GFR\<30) 10. Pregnant or breastfeeding
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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
1 site. 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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University of Louisville Hospital
RECRUITINGLouisville, Kentucky, 40202, United States
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Other studies related to the condition(s) this trial covers.
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- Expert tumor board may extend survival in brain metastases
- Can a new pill outsmart lung cancer in the brain?