Metformin hydrochloride (HCl) 500mg tablet: Metformin HCl 500mg tablets contain 500mg of active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) and are white, round, biconvex, film-coated tablets, with a score line on one face and debossed with "HMR" on the other. Each tablet contains the non-medicinal ingredients magnesium stearate and povidone. Tablet coating is comprised of hydroxypropyl methylcellulose, polyethylene glycol and titanium dioxide.
Placebo: Matching white round tablet containing excipients only. The placebo tablets will match the active drug as closely as possible in terms of appearance.
Study summary
The efficacy of treatment with metformin for promoting cognitive recovery and brain growth in children/adolescents treated for a brain tumour will be investigated in a multi-site Phase III randomized double-blind placebo-controlled parallel arm superiority trial. Specifically, in children/adolescents aged 7 years to 21 years and 11 months who have completed treatment for a brain tumour, is oral administration of metformin for 16 weeks associated with greater improvement of cognitive function and brain growth compared to placebo administered for 16 weeks?
Eligibility
Sex
ALL
Min age
7 Years
Max age
21 Years
Healthy volunteers
No
Inclusion Criteria:
In order to be eligible to participate in this study, an individual must meet all of the following criteria:
1. No less than 3 weeks after completion of:
* Primary therapy for:
1. medulloblastoma
OR
2. ependymoma
OR
3. craniopharyngioma
OR
4. germ cell tumours
OR
* Primary therapy for any other brain tumour treated with cranial radiation - at the discretion of the Study PI
OR
* Cranial radiation for relapsed ependymoma
2. Age 7 years to 21 years and 11 months at the time of enrollment
3. Either declare English (or French in accepting sites) as their native language or have had at least two years of schooling in English (or French in accepting sites) at the time of consent
4. Able to swallow tablets either whole, crushed or via a feeding tube and be willing to adhere to the study intervention regimen
5. Meet criteria for normal organ function requirements as described below:
1. Normal renal function defined as: Estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) \> 75ml/min/1.73m²
* eGFR is calculated using the Schwartz formula: eGFR (mL/min/1.73m²) = (0.41 × height in cm) / creatinine in mg/dL
2. Normal liver function defined as:
* Serum glutamic-oxaloacetic transaminase (SGOT) (AST) ≤2.5 x institutional upper limit of normal (ULN) for age and gender
* Serum glutamic pyruvic transaminase (SGPT) (ALT) ≤2.5 x institutional ULN for age and gender
* Total bilirubin \<1.5x institutional ULN for age and gender (patients with documented Gilbert's Disease may be enrolled with Sponsor approval and total bilirubin ≤2.0 x institutional ULN)
6. Informed consent (and assent, where applicable) will be obtained from the participants and/or their legal guardian(s) by study team members delegated to consent for this study
Exclusion Criteria:
Participants who meet any of the following criteria will not be eligible to take part in the trial:
1. Standard score of less than 60 for full scale IQ on the Wechsler Abbreviated Scale of Intelligence, Second Edition (WASI-II) (or other Wechsler Scale of Intelligence for English speaking participants) or pro-rated IQ score on the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children, Fifth Edition (WISC-V) or Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS-IV) for French speaking participants at Screening visit
2. Have a known hypersensitivity to metformin hydrochloride
3. Have unstable and/or insulin-dependent (Type 1) diabetes
4. Have a history of hypoglycemia after 2 years of age
5. Have been diagnosed with acute or chronic metabolic acidosis and/or lactic acidosis or if bicarbonate (Total CO2) is less than 22 mmol/L at the Screening visit
6. Have a history of renal disease or renal dysfunction pre-existing to the diagnosis of Medulloblastoma
7. Have a history of congestive heart failure requiring pharmacologic treatment (including the use of diuretics) within two years prior to study entry
8. Currently taking part in a cognitive rehabilitation intervention study
9. Treatment or planned treatment involving diuretics
10. Current or planned treatment with cationic drugs excreted by the kidneys (e.g. amiloride, cimetidine, digoxin, morphine, nifedipine, procainamide, quinidine, quinine, ranitidine, triamterene, trimethoprim, and vancomycin)
11. Current or planned treatment with concomitant medications with potential unacceptable interaction with metformin including, lamotrigine, beta blockers, angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors, glycopyrrolate, and carbonic anhydrase inhibitors, or at the discretion of the Site PI or delegate for medications with potential interactions such as sertraline, lansoprazole and omeprazole.
12. Pernicious anemia (according to results of the Screening visit blood draw)
13. Current use of metformin hydrochloride
14. Any condition or diagnosis, that could in the opinion of the Site PI or delegate interfere with the participant's ability to comply with study instructions, might confound the interpretation of the study results, or put the participant at risk
15. Are receiving palliative care
Primary outcome measure(s)
Change from Week 1 (Baseline) Children's Auditory Verbal Learning Test-2 (CAVLT-2)/Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test (RAVLT) Immediate Recall at Week 17 (Post-Intervention) to Assess Declarative Memory — Week 1 (Baseline), Week 17 (Post-Intervention) To examine the effectiveness of 16 weeks of treatment with metformin versus 16 weeks of placebo for improving cognition, as measured by CAVLT-2/RAVLT which is a test of auditory verbal learning and memory.
Change from Week 1 (Baseline) NIH Toolbox List Sort Working Working Memory Test at Week 17 (Post-Intervention) to Assess Working Memory — Week 1 (Baseline), Week 17 (Post-Intervention) To examine the effectiveness of 16 weeks of treatment with metformin versus 16 weeks of placebo for improving cognition, as measured by List Sorting Working Memory Test (LSWMT) in which participants will be required to recall and place in sequence stimuli that are presented visually and verbally.
Change from Week 1 (Baseline) Cambridge Neuropsychological Test Automated Battery (CANTAB) Mean Reaction Time for Correct Trials across the RVP, RTI, MTS, and DMS Subtests at Week 17 (Post-Intervention) to Assess Processing Speed — Week 1 (Baseline), Week 17 (Post-Intervention) To examine the effectiveness of 16 weeks of treatment with metformin versus 16 weeks of placebo for improving cognition, as measured by mean reaction time for correct trials across subtests of the CANTAB:
1. Rapid Visual Information Processing (RVP)
2. Reaction Time (RTI)
3. Match to Sample Visual Search (MTS)
4. Delayed Matching to Sample (DMS) Each subtest provides an outcome measure of response latency, which will be averaged across all correct trials for each subtest to provide an overall measure of processing speed.
Trial sites (20)
Facility
City
Region
Status
John Hunter Children's Hospital
New Lambton Heights
New South Wales
Recruiting
Children's Hospital in Westmead
Westmead
New South Wales
Withdrawn
Women and Childen's Hospital
Adelaide
North Adelaide
Recruiting
Monash Children's Hospital
Clayton
Victoria
Recruiting
Royal Children's Hospital
Parkville
Victoria
Recruiting
Perth Children's Hospital
Nedlands
Western Australia
Recruiting
Alberta Children's Hospital
Calgary
Alberta
Recruiting
Stollery Children's Hospital
Edmonton
Alberta
Recruiting
Children's & Women's Health Centre of British Columbia
Vancouver
British Columbia
Recruiting
Cancer Care Manitoba
Winnipeg
Manitoba
Recruiting
Izaak Walton Killam (IWK) Health Centre
Halifax
Nova Scotia
Recruiting
Hamilton Health Sciences - McMaster Children's Hospital
Hamilton
Ontario
Recruiting
Children's Hospital, London Health Sciences Centre
This page summarises publicly available registry data for informational purposes — not medical advice. Eligibility is determined by each study team; patients should discuss participation with their clinician.
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