The Clinical Trial of Low Dose Irradiation for Alzheimer's Disease

Last updated: August 20, 2025
Sponsor: Kyung Hee University Hospital at Gangdong
Overall Status: Completed

Phase

2

Condition

N/A

Treatment

Low-dose whole brain irradiation

Clinical Study ID

NCT05635968
KHNMC 2022-03-030
  • Ages 60-85
  • All Genders

Study Summary

This is a phase II, multicenter, prospective, randomized controlled trial to treat patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) using low-dose irradiation (LDIR). This study aims to evaluate the safety and efficacy of LDIR to whole brain in patients with AD and to determine the potentially applicable radiation dose.

Eligibility Criteria

Inclusion

Inclusion Criteria:

All of the following criteria are satisfied for the subjects to be included in the study:

  1. Aged between 60 and 85 years.

  2. Diagnosed with probable Alzheimer's disease (AD) dementia based on the newdiagnostic criteria for Alzheimer's disease outlined by the National Institute onAging and Alzheimer's Association (NIA-AA).

  3. Stably maintaining the general AD drug treatment (donepezil, galantamine,rivastigmine, or memantine) for more than 3 months.

  4. Amyloid accumulation in brain confirmed by Amyloid PET.

  5. Mild AD (score range of 13 to 24 on the Korean Mini-Mental State Examination (K-MMSE) or 0.5 or 1 on the Clinical Dementia Rating scale (CDR)).

  6. Able to perform cognitive function tests and imaging tests.

  7. Accompanied by a guardian who provides information on the subject's overall status,cognitive function, and functional changes.

  8. Written informed consent was provided by the subject or the guardian to participatein this trial.

Exclusion

Exclusion Criteria:

Subjects who fall under any of the following criteria are excluded from the study:

  1. Previous history of radiation to the brain.

  2. History of seizure within the previous 10 years of the screening time.

  3. Skin disease on the scalp.

  4. Previous history of malignancy.

  5. Pregnancy or breastfeeding.

  6. Subjects with cognitive decline associated with drugs or neurological /neurodegenerative conditions, not AD (i.e., drug abuse, vitamin B12 deficiency,thyroid dysfunction, stroke or other cerebrovascular conditions, Lewy body dementia,frontotemporal dementia, and head trauma).

  7. Clinically significant, unstable mental illness (i.e., uncontrolled depression,schizophrenia, and bipolar disorder) within the last 6 months.

  8. Subjects whose brain MRI confirms evidence of: acute or subacute hemorrhage, priormacro hemorrhage (defined as >1 cm in diameter, T2 sequence) or prior subarachnoidhemorrhage unless it can be documented that the finding is not due to an underlyingstructural or vascular abnormality, more than 4 microhemorrhages, cortical infarct (defined as >1.5 cm in diameter, irrespective of anatomic location), >1 lacunarinfarct (defined as >1.5 cm in diameter), superficial siderosis, and history ofdiffuse white matter disease as defined by a score of 3 on the age-related whitematter changes scale. Any finding that, in the opinion of the investigator, might bea contributing cause of the subject's dementia, or pose a risk to the subject, ormight prevent a satisfactory MRI assessment for safety monitoring are also includedin the exclusion criteria.

  9. Those who have other findings that are considered clinically important, and thosewho are judged by the researcher to be inappropriate for participation in thisstudy.

Study Design

Total Participants: 71
Treatment Group(s): 1
Primary Treatment: Low-dose whole brain irradiation
Phase: 2
Study Start date:
July 15, 2022
Estimated Completion Date:
April 15, 2025

Study Description

Screening tests, cognitive function tests, brain MRI, and amyloid PET are performed on subjects who voluntarily consent in writing to participate in the trial to determine whether they meet the inclusion/exclusion criteria. Randomization is assigned to eligible subjects. The experimental groups are irradiated six times for 3 weeks according to the radiation dose determined for each group, and the control group is irradiated with sham radiation. The patients assigned to the experimental group receive whole brain irradiation with 6 MV energy using a linear accelerator. In the experimental group (1), 20 patients receive 4cGy x 6 times, a total of 24 cGy of irradiation. In the experimental group (2), 20 patients receive 50 cGy x 6 times, a total of 300 cGy of irradiation. All experimental groups and control group visit the hospital about 1, 6, and 12 months after irradiation to evaluate efficacy and safety.

Connect with a study center

  • Kyung Hee University Hospital at Gangdong

    Seoul, 05278
    Korea, Republic of

    Site Not Available

  • Kyung Hee University Hospital at Gangdong

    Seoul 1835848, 05278
    South Korea

    Site Not Available

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