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NCT Number: NCT06804655

Pharmacoscopy for Patients With Refractory Primary Brain Tumors

Advanced technology of ex vivo drug profiling referred to as pharmacoscopy may allow to identify novel drugs for the treatment of glioblastoma and other refractory brain tumors at an individual patient level. This personalized therapeutic approach was developed and validated in pre-clinical glioma models. With the current research proposal, we seek to establish feasibility for a clinical interventional trial for patients with refractory primary brain tumors that is based on pharmacoscopy-guided selection of treatment.

The study is supported by an unrestricted grant from Anti Cancer Fund.

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Key information

Who can participate

Healthy volunteers accepted: No

Only the study team can determine whether someone qualifies for participation.

Inclusion criteria

  • Age 18 years or older on day of signing informed consent, female or male.
  • 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.
  • Karnofsky performance status of 60 or more
  • Life expectancy >12 weeks.
  • Limited systemic therapeutic options as per treating physician judgement. The number of previous lines of therapies is not limited.
  • Surgery clinically indicated. A histological confirmation of the diagnosis of a recurrent brain tumor will be required before any treatment can be initiated.
  • Adequate bone marrow, renal and hepatic function
  • 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.
  • 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

  • Inability to undergo brain or spine MRI.
  • Concurrent treatment with other systemic tumor-directed pharmacotherapies.
  • Intent to be treated with radiotherapy.
  • Any investigational antitumor therapy other than those under investigation in this study.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • Sexually active men and women of childbearing potential who are not willing to use an effective contraceptive method during the study.

Treatment and study plan

Pharmacoscopy 1.0

Device

The intervention is the submission of freshly obtained surgical material to ex vivo drug profiling which we term pharmacoscopy (PCY). The performance study is interventional as the test results shall influence patient management decisions and/or may be used to guide treatment.

Primary outcomes

  1. To demonstrate the overall feasibility of pharmacoscopy-guided treatment for patients with refractory primary brain tumors

    Time frame: 2 months

    The feasibility is defined as:

    80% success rate of generating a pharmacoscopy result within 10 days of surgery (32/40 patients), 50% success rate of placing patients on selected drug based on pharmacoscopy (16/32 patients).

Secondary outcomes

  1. To explore the efficacy of pharmacoscopy-guided treatment - 1

    Time frame: 12 months

    (1) Response rate

  2. To explore the efficacy of pharmacoscopy guided treatment - 2

    Time frame: 12 months

    duration of response

  3. To explore the efficacy of pharmascopy guided treatment - 3

    Time frame: 12 months

    progression-free survival

  4. To explore the efficacy of pharmascopy guided treatment - 4

    Time frame: 24 months

    overall survival

  5. To confirm the safety and tolerability of treatment selected based on pharmacoscopy - 1

    Time frame: 12 months

    Neurological function (NANO scale, Nayak et al. 2017)

  6. To confirm the safety and tolerability of treatment selected based on pharmacoscopy -2

    Time frame: 12 months

    Karnofsky performance status (score 0-100)

  7. To confirm the safety and tolerability of treatment selected based on pharmacoscopy - 3

    Time frame: 12 months

    Steroid use (dose in mg equivalent dexamethasone)

  8. Quality of life -1

    Time frame: 12 months

    EORTC QLQ C30 auto-questionnaire

  9. Quality of life - 2

    Time frame: 12 months

    EORTC BN20 autoquestionnaire

Other outcomes

  1. Translational research

    Time frame: 12 months

    prospective assessement of the value of liquid biopsy in parallel of imaging assessment

Study contacts

Contact information is provided by the study sponsor or research team.

Michael Weller, Prof. Dr. med.

CONTACT

[email protected]

+41442555500

Sponsors and collaborators

Lead sponsor

University of Zurich

Other

Collaborators

  • Cantonal Hospital of St. Gallen
  • University Hospital, Basel, Switzerland
  • University Hospital, Zürich

Registry information

Acronym: EViDENCE-BT

Important dates

Study start
2026
Primary completion
2028
Study completion
2028
First posted
Feb 3, 2025
Registry last updated
May 6, 2026

OpenTrials presents study information sourced from ClinicalTrials.gov. The official registry record should be consulted for the latest information.

View the official ClinicalTrials.gov record (opens in a new tab)

This listing is for discovery and informational purposes only. It is not medical advice, does not guarantee that a study is recruiting, and does not determine eligibility. Contact the study team and a qualified healthcare professional when considering participation.

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