Thursday, July 3, 2025 7/3/2025

Utility of memantine in preventing cognitive dysfunction in children receiving cranial radiotherapy

Award Number: U01CA246568
ORGANIZATION: NATIONAL CANCER INSTITUTE
OPDIV: NIH
AWARD CLASS: COOPERATIVE AGREEMENT
AWARD ACTIVITY TYPE: SCIENTIFIC/HEALTH RESEARCH (INCLUDES SURVEYS)
PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE START DATE: 09/18/2019
PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE END DATE: 12/31/2025

Group Awards By:

View Award Description

Utility of memantine in preventing cognitive dysfunction in children receiving cranial radiotherapy - ABSTRACT The purpose of this study is to determine whether oral memantine daily for 6 months, when compared to placebo, is associated with reduction in decline of cognitive function at 12 months in children ages 4-18 receiving cranial radiotherapy (RT) for primary central nervous system tumors and to correlate protective effects of memantine with imaging biomarkers. Radiotherapy is a proven curative therapeutic tool in the treatment of primary brain tumors. However, cranial RT results in significant cognitive morbidity. The mechanisms of radiation-induced injury result in a picture that is a combination of the small vessel disease seen with vascular dementia as well as neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s dementia. Ischemia and injury can induce excessive NMDA stimulation and lead to excitotoxicity, and pre- clinical data suggests that selective blocking of the NMDA receptor can restore long-term potentiation and restore learning in both models of ischemia as well as models of radiation injury. Memantine is a non- competitive, low-affinity, open- channel NMDA blocker, which has been shown to be neuroprotective in pre- clinical models. In two placebo- controlled phase III trials, memantine proved to be effective treatment for Alzheimer’s and vascular dementia, especially for patients with small-vessel disease. Memantine has also proven effective in reducing cognitive dysfunction in adults receiving whole-brain radiotherapy for brain metastases. Memantine delayed time to cognitive decline and reduced the rate of decline in memory, executive function and processing speed. Importantly, cognitive function in patients receiving memantine remained stable even after memantine was discontinued; suggesting memantine had a protective effect rather than simply a therapeutic effect. In this study, we propose evaluating the efficacy of memantine in preventing cognitive dysfunction in pediatric patients receiving cranial radiation through the clinical trial mechanism of the Children’s Oncology Group. This study is novel in that children will undergo early cognitive evaluations (baseline prior to radiation, 3, 6, and 12 months post-radiation) with a brief computerized testing battery that we will correlate with formal cognitive testing as well with long-term cognitive function (30 and 60 months) assessed with both methods. If successful, this study will provide validated early cognitive assessment time points that correlate with late cognitive toxicity and result in an framework for accelerated study design that will allow for early assessment of efficacy for future neuro-protectant trials. Dose- and volume-dependent reduction in brain volume is seen after radiotherapy exposure and is associated with cognitive decline. We hypothesize that neuroprotection with memantine will also preserve relevant brain volume and this will correlate with domain- specific improvements in cognitive function. We will use quantitative volumetric MRI analysis to correlate protective effects of memantine with brain substructure (white matter, hippocampus, frontal lobes etc) volume changes over time and correlate with cognitive assessments. Radiographic analysis will provide proof-of- principle for the mechanism of action of memantine as well as a biomarker that can be utilized in future trials of radio-protectants, which is especially important for young patients or patients not neurologically capable of completing cognitive assessments but who may benefit the most from neuroprotective interventions.


Issue Date FY	Funding FY	Legal Entity Name	Legal Entity Address	Legal Entity City	Legal Entity State	Legal Entity Zip Code	Legal Entity COUNTY	Legal Entity COUNTRY	Assistance Listing	Award Code	Budget Year	Action Date	Action Type	Action Amount

Issue Date FY: 2025 ( Subtotal = $287,216 )
2025	2025	MAYO CLINIC	200 1ST ST SW	ROCHESTER	MN	55905	OLMSTED	USA	21st Century Cures Act - Beau Biden Cancer Moonshot	000	6	3/28/2025	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$287,216
2025	2025	MAYO CLINIC	200 1ST ST SW	ROCHESTER	MN	55905	OLMSTED	USA	21st Century Cures Act - Beau Biden Cancer Moonshot	001	6	4/14/2025	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$0
														Subtotal = $287,216

Issue Date FY: 2024 ( Subtotal = $370,218 )
2024	2024	MAYO CLINIC	200 1ST ST SW	ROCHESTER	MN	55905	OLMSTED	USA	21st Century Cures Act - Beau Biden Cancer Moonshot	000	5	4/19/2024	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$370,218
														Subtotal = $370,218

Issue Date FY: 2023 ( Subtotal = $771,678 )
2023	2023	MAYO CLINIC	200 1ST ST SW	ROCHESTER	MN	55905	OLMSTED	USA	21st Century Cures Act - Beau Biden Cancer Moonshot	000	4	7/14/2023	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$771,678
														Subtotal = $771,678

Issue Date FY: 2022 ( Subtotal = $971,719 )
2022	2022	MAYO CLINIC	200 FIRST ST SW	ROCHESTER	MN	55905	OLMSTED	USA	21st Century Cures Act - Beau Biden Cancer Moonshot	001	3	1/31/2022	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$892,392
2022	2022	MAYO CLINIC	200 FIRST ST SW	ROCHESTER	MN	55905	OLMSTED	USA	21st Century Cures Act - Beau Biden Cancer Moonshot	002	3	5/10/2022	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$79,327
2022	2020	MAYO CLINIC	200 FIRST ST SW	ROCHESTER	MN	55905	OLMSTED	USA	21st Century Cures Act - Beau Biden Cancer Moonshot	000	2	1/5/2022	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$0
														Subtotal = $971,719

Issue Date FY: 2021 ( Subtotal = $0 )
2021	2020	MAYO CLINIC	200 FIRST ST SW	ROCHESTER	MN	55905	OLMSTED	USA	21st Century Cures Act - Beau Biden Cancer Moonshot	001	2	8/31/2021	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$0
2021	2020	MAYO CLINIC	200 FIRST ST SW	ROCHESTER	MN	55905	OLMSTED	USA	21st Century Cures Act - Beau Biden Cancer Moonshot	000	2	6/18/2021	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$0
														Subtotal = $0

Issue Date FY: 2020 ( Subtotal = $285,860 )
2020	2020	MAYO CLINIC	200 FIRST ST SW	ROCHESTER	MN	55905	OLMSTED	USA	21st Century Cures Act - Beau Biden Cancer Moonshot	000	2	9/14/2020	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$285,860
														Subtotal = $285,860

Issue Date FY: 2019 ( Subtotal = $752,663 )
2019	2019	MAYO CLINIC	200 FIRST ST SW	ROCHESTER	MN	55905	OLMSTED	USA	21st Century Cures Act - Beau Biden Cancer Moonshot	000	1	9/18/2019	NEW	$752,663
														Subtotal = $752,663

Grand Total All Awards = $3,439,354

Top

All Categories

About

Search

Reports

Data Submission

Award Information

Utility of memantine in preventing cognitive dysfunction in children receiving cranial radiotherapy

Award Number: U01CA246568

ORGANIZATION: NATIONAL CANCER INSTITUTE

OPDIV: NIH

AWARD CLASS: COOPERATIVE AGREEMENT

AWARD ACTIVITY TYPE: SCIENTIFIC/HEALTH RESEARCH (INCLUDES SURVEYS)

PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE START DATE: 09/18/2019

PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE END DATE: 12/31/2025

Federal Websites

Department of Health & Human Services

HHS Operating Divisions

HHS Staff Divisions

Download A Document Viewer