Restrictive Use of Dexamethasone in Glioblastoma

NCT04266977 · Status: RECRUITING · Phase: NA · Type: INTERVENTIONAL · Enrollment: 50

Last updated 2025-07-09

No results posted yet for this study

Summary

The administration of steroids, most commonly dexamethasone (DEX), has established as standard of care during treatment of glioblastoma (GBM) and is widely used during the entire course of the disease including pre- and postoperative management, chemo- and radiotherapy. The primary purpose is to reduce tumor-associated vasogenic edema and to prevent or treat increased intracranial pressure. However, steroids are also linked to a multitude of adverse side effects that may affect survival of GBM patients such as major immunosuppression. The use of steroids during radiotherapy is associated with reduced overall- and progression-free survival and has been identified as an independent poor prognostic factor. Despite these findings, the suspicion of GBM often triggers the administration of DEX in routine clinical practice, regardless of neurological symptoms, tumor size, or extension of cerebral edema. The purpose of this study is to assess whether selected GBM patients can be treated safely with a restrictive DEX regimen from referral to the neurosurgical center until discharge.

The primary objective is to determine the failure rate of a restrictive DEX regimen defined as edema or mass effect leading to any of the following: GCS deterioration ≥ 2 points, NIHSS increase ≥ 3 points, increase of midline Shift ≥ 2mm, or any surgical rescue procedure for increasing mass effect.

Conditions

Interventions

DRUG

Dexamethasone

restrictive use of DEX, based on standardized clinical and radiological criteria.

Sponsors & Collaborators

  • Insel Gruppe AG, University Hospital Bern

    lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

  • Andreas Raabe, MD · Inselspital Bern, Department of Neurosurgery

Study Design

Allocation
NA
Purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
NONE
Model
SINGLE_GROUP

Eligibility

Min Age
18 Years
Max Age
90 Years
Sex
ALL
Healthy Volunteers
No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start
2020-05-08
Primary Completion
2027-04-30
Completion
2028-04-30

Countries

  • Switzerland

Study Locations

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Entities

Read the full study record

This page highlights key information. For complete eligibility criteria, study locations, investigator contacts, and the full protocol, visit the original record on ClinicalTrials.gov.

View NCT04266977 on ClinicalTrials.gov