Trial reportJournal of clinical oncology : official journal of the American Society of Clinical Oncology2015
Donepezil for Irradiated Brain Tumor Survivors: A Phase III Randomized Placebo-Controlled Clinical Trial.
Trial report in Journal of clinical oncology : official journal of the American Society of Clinical Oncology, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT04343157 (UCSD Image-Guided Cognitive-Sparing Radiosurgery for Brain Metastases), which is not on this map. Cited by 126 papers, 10 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
UCSD Image-Guided Cognitive-Sparing Radiosurgery for Brain Metastases: Avoidance of Eloquent White Matter and Hippocampal Regions
Who cites it
126 citing papers in PubMed, 10 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 268 citations in OpenAlex.
- Neurocognitive outcomes in patients with brain metastases: a systematic review.The Lancet. Oncology · 2025Pooled it
- Donepezil for cancer-related cognitive impairment: systematic review and meta-analysis.Clinical and experimental medicine · 2025Pooled it
- DEGRO guideline for personalized radiotherapy of brain metastases and leptomeningeal carcinomatosis in patients with breast cancer.Strahlentherapie und Onkologie : Organ der Deutschen Rontgengesellschaft ... [et al] · 2024Guideline
- A systematic review of cognitive interventions for adult patients with brain tumours.Cancer medicine · 2023Pooled it
- Palliative care and end-of-life care in adults with malignant brain tumors.Neuro-oncology · 2023Pooled it
- Interventions for preventing and ameliorating cognitive deficits in adults treated with cranial irradiation.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2022Pooled it
- Brain metastases: A Society for Neuro-Oncology (SNO) consensus review on current management and future directions.Neuro-oncology · 2022Guideline
- Pooled it
- Whole brain radiotherapy for the treatment of newly diagnosed multiple brain metastases.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2018Pooled it
- Interventions for preventing and ameliorating cognitive deficits in adults treated with cranial irradiation.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2014Pooled it
- Phase III Randomized, Placebo-Controlled Clinical Trial of Donepezil for Treatment of Cognitive Impairment in Breast Cancer Survivors After Adjuvant Chemotherapy (WF-97116).Journal of clinical oncology : official journal of the American Society of Clinical Oncology · 2024Trial
- Sustained Preservation of Cognition and Prevention of Patient-Reported Symptoms With Hippocampal Avoidance During Whole-Brain Radiation Therapy for Brain Metastases: Final Results of NRG Oncology CC001.International journal of radiation oncology, biology, physics · 2023Trial
- Hippocampal avoidance whole-brain radiotherapy without memantine in preserving neurocognitive function for brain metastases: a phase II blinded randomized trial.Neuro-oncology · 2021Trial
- Hippocampal Avoidance During Whole-Brain Radiotherapy Plus Memantine for Patients With Brain Metastases: Phase III Trial NRG Oncology CC001.Journal of clinical oncology : official journal of the American Society of Clinical Oncology · 2020Trial
- Clinical Experience in Treatment of Alzheimer's Disease with Jiannao Yizhi Formula () and Routine Western Medicine.Chinese journal of integrative medicine · 2020Trial
- Trial
- A study of donepezil in female breast cancer survivors with self-reported cognitive dysfunction 1 to 5 years following adjuvant chemotherapy.Journal of cancer survivorship : research and practice · 2016Trial
- WF-1801: Single-arm pilot study of ramipril for prevention of radiation-induced cognitive decline in glioblastoma patients receiving chemoradiotherapy.Neuro-oncology practice · 2026Article
- Methodology of analysis of cognitive impairment in longitudinal randomized clinical trials in oncology: a scoping review.Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer · 2026Article
- Obstacles and Trials in Treating Primary Brain Tumors.International journal of molecular sciences · 2026Review
66 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
13 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
purposeNeurotoxic effects of brain irradiation include cognitive impairment in 50% to 90% of patients. Prior studies have suggested that donepezil, a neurotransmitter modulator, may improve cognitive function. PATIENTS AND
methodsA total of 198 adult brain tumor survivors ≥ 6 months after partial- or whole-brain irradiation were randomly assigned to receive a single daily dose (5 mg for 6 weeks, 10 mg for 18 weeks) of donepezil or placebo. A cognitive test battery assessing memory, attention, language, visuomotor, verbal fluency, and executive functions was administered before random assignment and at 12 and 24 weeks. A cognitive composite score (primary outcome) and individual cognitive domains were evaluated.
resultsOf this mostly middle-age, married, non-Hispanic white sample, 66% had primary brain tumors, 27% had brain metastases, and 8% underwent prophylactic cranial irradiation. After 24 weeks of treatment, the composite scores did not differ significantly between groups (P = .48); however, significant differences favoring donepezil were observed for memory (recognition, P = .027; discrimination, P = .007) and motor speed and dexterity (P = .016). Significant interactions between pretreatment cognitive function and treatment were found for cognitive composite (P = .01), immediate recall (P = .05), delayed recall (P = .004), attention (P = .01), visuomotor skills (P = .02), and motor speed and dexterity (P < .001), with the benefits of donepezil greater for those who were more cognitively impaired before study treatment.
conclusionTreatment with donepezil did not significantly improve the overall composite score, but it did result in modest improvements in several cognitive functions, especially among patients with greater pretreatment impairments.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.