Personalized drug test aims to outsmart refractory brain tumors
NCT ID NCT06804655
First seen Jun 25, 2026 · Last updated Jun 27, 2026 · Updated 1 time
Summary
This study tests a lab technique called pharmacoscopy that analyzes a patient's tumor tissue to find which drugs might work best for them. It includes 40 adults with various aggressive or rare brain tumors that have not responded to standard treatments. The main goal is to see if the test can provide a usable drug recommendation within 10 days and if doctors can then start that treatment.
What this could mean
Our plain-language read of the trial. This is informational only, not medical advice or a prediction.
- Active substance
- Pharmacoscopy (ex vivo drug profiling test)
- What this could lead to
- If successful, this approach could help doctors choose personalized treatments for patients with brain tumors that have not responded to standard therapy.
- What could go wrong
- This is a small, early-phase feasibility study. It may not show that the drug selection improves outcomes, and the test may fail to produce results in time for some patients.
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 2
Tests whether the treatment actually works, and watches for side effects, in a larger group.
- Participants
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About 40 people
The number the study aims to enrol. It can still change while the study runs.
- Expected to start
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Jun 2026
An estimate. Start dates often move.
- Expected to finish
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Sep 2028
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. Age 18 years or older on day of signing informed consent, female or male. 2. Refractory glioblastoma, isocitrate dehydrogenase (IDH)-mutant astrocytoma or oligodendroglioma, histone-mutant glioma, ependymoma, medulloblastoma, meningioma or other rare primary brain tumor with a histological confirmation according to the WHO classification 2021. Primary tumors can be located at the cerebral or spinal level. Primary brain tumors with metastases outside of the brain may also be considered. 3. Karnofsky performance status of 60 or more 4. Life expectancy \>12 weeks. 5. Limited systemic therapeutic options as per treating physician judgement. The number of previous lines of therapies is not limited. 6. Surgery clinically indicated. A histological confirmation of the diagnosis of a recurrent brain tumor will be required before any treatment can be initiated. 7. Adequate bone marrow, renal and hepatic function 8. Ability to understand the requirements of the study, provide written informed consent and authorization of use and disclosure of protected health information, and agree to abide by the study restrictions and return for the required assessments. 9. Written informed consent for study participation must be signed and dated by the patient and the investigator prior to any study-related intervention. Exclusion Criteria: 1. Inability to undergo brain or spine MRI. 2. Concurrent treatment with other systemic tumor-directed pharmacotherapies. 3. Intent to be treated with radiotherapy. 4. Any investigational antitumor therapy other than those under investigation in this study. 5. Judgment by the investigator that the patient should not participate in the study because the patient is unlikely to comply with study procedures, restrictions and requirements. 6. Intention to become pregnant during the course of the study or pregnancy. Women of childbearing potential, including women who had their last menstruation in the last 2 years, must have a negative urinary or serum pregnancy test. 7. Women who are breast feeding and who do not agree to discontinue nursing prior to the first study treatment and for the period defined in the protocol. 8. Sexually active men and women of childbearing potential who are not willing to use an effective contraceptive method during 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
3 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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Cantonal Hospital St Gallen
Sankt Gallen, Canton of St. Gallen, 9007, Switzerland
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University Hospital Basel
Basel, Basel-Landschaft, 4021, Switzerland
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University Hospital Zurich
Zurich, Canton of Zurich, 8091, Switzerland
More trials for these conditions
Other studies related to the condition(s) this trial covers.
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- Radioactive tracer lights up Oxygen-Starved brain tumors
- Starving brain tumors of blood before surgery
- Can a common virus vaccine help fight brain cancer?
- Radioactive tiles target brain tumors in frail patients
- Breathing CO2 during brain scans could reveal hidden tumor disruption