Brain scans reveal hidden memory damage in childhood cancer survivors
NCT ID NCT04324450
First seen Jun 26, 2026 · Last updated Jun 26, 2026
Summary
This study looked at how radiation therapy for pediatric brain cancer affects memory and brain structure in children, teens, and young adults. Researchers used MRI scans and memory tests to compare 60 participants. The goal is to better understand which brain areas are harmed by treatment, so future therapies can be made safer.
What this could mean
Our plain-language read of the trial. This is informational only, not medical advice or a prediction.
- What this could lead to
- If successful, this study could help doctors better tailor radiotherapy to reduce memory and cognitive side effects in children treated for brain cancer.
- What could go wrong
- This is an early, small, observational study with only 60 participants. It aims to understand effects, not test a treatment, so direct patient benefits are not guaranteed.
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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60 people
The number who actually took part.
- Started
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Feb 2020
- Finished
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Aug 2021
- Lead sponsor
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A government agency
The lead sponsor is a government body.
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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Children (under 18), adults (18 to 64) and older adults (65 and over)
- Sex
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Anyone
- Healthy volunteers
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Accepted
You do not need to have the condition being studied to take part.
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: FOR ALL PARTICIPANTS * Affiliation to or beneficiary of a social security scheme * French mother tongue * Sufficient visual, auditory (hearing aids permitted), speaking and writing skills for proper performance of neuropsychological tests * Written informed consent of the adult participant, or of the representatives of parental authority, if applicable FOR IRRADIATED PATIENTS * Patient treated before 18 years old * Patient considered cured after irradiation of a brain tumour (complete clinical and iconographic response at 5 years after the end of radiotherapy). * Patient who has received localized brain irradiation or craniospinal irradiation for a brain tumour whose treatment includes first-line radiotherapy (ependymomas, medulloblastomas, malignant germinal tumours) * Patient who received 54 or 59.4 Gy in a localized part of the posterior fossa or supra-tentorial brain; or patients who received 54 Gy over all or part of the posterior fossa and prophylactic irradiation of the entire brain FOR PATIENTS TREATED BY SURGERY AND/OR CHEMOTHERAPY * Patients resected from a posterior fossa tumour without radiotherapy (i.e., brain tumours whose treatment does not include first-line radiotherapy: low-grade gliomas including pilocytic astrocytomas) * Patient treated before 18 years old * Patient considered cured at 5 years after the end of treatment Exclusion Criteria: FOR ALL PARTICIPANTS * Individual under legal protection of adults (judicial safeguard, guardianship, curatorship, institutionalized, or under a mandate for future protection) * Severe ataxia * Individual who participated in another research study that included treatment within the previous 3 years * Individual with a contraindication to MRI (i.e. in particular, cardiac pacemaker or defibrillator carriers, implanted equipment activated by an electrical, magnetic or mechanical system, carriers of haemostatic clips on intracerebral aneurysms, carriers of orthopaedic implants, claustrophobic) FOR HEALTHY VOLUNTEERS * Known neurological or psychiatric history * History of learning disability or neurodevelopmental disorder follow-up * Patients undergoing psychotropic treatment (methylphenidate, antidepressants, etc.).
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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.
Contacts and locations
Locations
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ToNIC / UMR1214
Toulouse, 31024, France
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Other studies related to the condition(s) this trial covers.
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