Memantine
Memantine is an Alzheimer's drug taken during whole-brain radiotherapy to protect memory. With hippocampal-sparing radiotherapy it has become the standard way to limit the thinking problems the treatment causes.
Overview
Memantine is an NMDA-receptor antagonist approved by the FDA in 2003 for moderate to severe Alzheimer's disease. In neuro-oncology it is given orally for 24 weeks starting with whole-brain radiotherapy. RTOG 0614 showed it delayed cognitive decline, and NRG CC001 (Journal of Clinical Oncology, 2020) showed that memantine plus hippocampal-avoidance intensity-modulated radiotherapy preserved cognition better than memantine with conventional whole-brain radiotherapy, without loss of intracranial control.
It does not treat the tumour itself. The secondary brain tumours page names it as the standard neuroprotective companion whenever whole-brain radiotherapy is still used rather than stereotactic radiosurgery.
A low-affinity blocker of the NMDA glutamate receptor that limits the excitotoxic damage radiation causes to hippocampal neurons, given during and after whole-brain radiotherapy.
1.Memantine slips into a pocket on its target.
Approvals
| Region | Year | Indication |
|---|---|---|
| US | 2003 | Moderate to severe Alzheimer's disease (use as a neuroprotectant during whole-brain radiotherapy is off-label) |
Trials
topTrials recruiting now
Country and place are remembered in this browser only. A postcode is sent to OpenStreetMap's Nominatim service to find coordinates when you press the button; nothing else leaves your device.
Latest papers
topQuery for this drug: (TITLE:"Memantine" OR ABSTRACT:"Memantine" OR TITLE:"Namenda" OR ABSTRACT:"Namenda" OR TITLE:"Ebixa" OR ABSTRACT:"Ebixa") AND (cancer OR tumor OR tumour OR oncology OR carcinoma OR lymphoma OR leukemia OR leukaemia OR myeloma OR sarcoma OR melanoma OR glioma). Results are unfiltered search hits about Memantine, not a curated reading list.
Similar pages
not linked directly; found by shared links- TermLeptomeningeal disease
Shares Whole-brain radiotherapy (WBRT), Brain metastases (secondary brain tumours).
- TrialAlliance N0574 (NCCTG N0574)
Shares Whole-brain radiotherapy (WBRT), Brain metastases (secondary brain tumours).
- TrialNRG CC001
Shares Whole-brain radiotherapy (WBRT), Brain metastases (secondary brain tumours).
- TrialQUARTZ
Shares Whole-brain radiotherapy (WBRT), Brain metastases (secondary brain tumours).
- TermStereotactic radiosurgery (SRS)
Shares Whole-brain radiotherapy (WBRT), Brain metastases (secondary brain tumours).
- TermBrain metastases (intracranial disease)
Shares Whole-brain radiotherapy (WBRT), Brain metastases (secondary brain tumours).
- TechnologyGamma Knife
Shares Whole-brain radiotherapy (WBRT), Brain metastases (secondary brain tumours).