TASTE
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Tenecteplase versus Alteplase for Stroke Thrombolysis Evaluation (TASTE) Trial
IRAS ID
181008
Contact name
Hugh Markus
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Newcastle
Eudract number
2015-002657-36
Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier
ACTRN12613000243718, Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry (ANZCTR)
Duration of Study in the UK
2 years, 3 months, 30 days
Research summary
A stroke occurs when a clot blocks one of the blood vessels to the brain. This causes poor blood supply and lack of oxygen to the brain tissue. At the moment, we know that alteplase can reduce brain damage from a stroke by dissolving the clot in the blocked artery and restoring normal blood supply to the brain before it becomes permanently damaged. However, since alteplase is a strong blood thinner there is a significant risk of bleeding into the brain.
Despite the clear benefits of alteplase at reducing brain damage and disability in stroke patients, we would like to find a medication that has similar clot-dissolving effects with a lower risk of brain bleeding. Tenecteplase is a new clot-dissolving medication that has has been shown to be superior to alteplase for clot-dissolving treatment in heart attack, with less bleeding side effects. It is commonly used for heart attack treatment. It is not currently licensed for stroke treatment. A recent study in the United States showed that tenecteplase used for stroke treatment had similar rates of excellent recovery to that of previous alteplase stroke studies, with less brain bleeding (i.e. low-dose tenecteplase appears to be as effective as standard-dose alteplase). However, there was no comparison group of patients receiving alteplase in this study.
Therefore, the aim of this study is to compare alteplase with tenecteplase for stroke treatment to determine which will help more patients have less disability at 3 months following their stroke.
Suitable patients (confirmed by brain scanning) will be randomly allocated to receive alteplase or tenecteplase. They will remain in the study for 90 days, and the disability of the patients at this time-point will be compared between the two groups.
This study is currently running in Australia and will be opening throughout the UK and Europe.REC name
East of England - Cambridge South Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
15/EE/0307
Date of REC Opinion
21 Sep 2015
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion