The response to dexamethasone in brain tumours
Research type
Research Study
Full title
The symptomatic response to dexamethasone in brain tumours
IRAS ID
294588
Contact name
Paul Chumas
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust
Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier
NA, NA
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 4 months, 0 days
Research summary
Steroids (and in particular dexamethasone or “Dex”) are often given to patients with brain tumours – in order to try and decrease brain swelling (oedema) around the tumour. Steroids are generally very effective in this setting and patients will often notice an improvement in symptoms (headache, nausea, drowsiness, weakness etc) within hours or days of starting Dex. However, despite Dex having been used since the 1950s, we still do not know how Dex works, or, who responds quickly, or slowly, and why some patients do not respond at all. This is important as response to steroids is often taken into account in deciding what treatment patients receive. Additionally, whilst Dex is a very safe drug, it does have side-effects (including problems sleeping, weight gain, acne, mood disturbance, diabetes etc). Because of these side effects, we would like to look for an alternative to steroids to treat brain swelling – but first we need to understand more about how steroids work in brain tumours. This audit aims to demonstrate the clinical response and early side effects of patients prescribed dexamethasone for a brain tumour. We will ask patients started on dexamethasone to complete of a questionnaire to determine the severity of symptoms before and after the introduction of dexamethasone. Patients started on dexamethasone within 14 days who have been diagnosed within the Leeds Teaching Hospital NHS trust will be included in this study. Verbal consent will be obtained from all patients prior to completion of the questionnaire. We will also gather data on patient characteristics, and the characteristics of the brain tumour through use of medical notes and recent brain scans.
REC name
South Central - Oxford B Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
21/SC/0230
Date of REC Opinion
2 Sep 2021
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion