Evidence map›Paper›PMID 42681266›Full record

Trial reportJournal of neuro-oncology2026

Long-term outcomes after a randomized phase II trial of nerve growth factor eye drops for optic pathway gliomas: four-year follow-up findings in children.

Antonio Ruggiero, Giorgio Attinà, Giorgio Placidi, Elena D'Agostino, Alessia Amato, Tommaso Verdolotti, Stefano Mastrangelo, Benedetto Falsini

Abstract readClinical Trial, Phase IIRandomized Controlled Trial
In one paragraph

Trial report in Journal of neuro-oncology, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from 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.

2 · The registry

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.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

8 authors.

Antonio RuggieroPediatric Oncology Unit, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario Agostino Gemelli IRCCS, Rome, Italy. antonio.ruggiero@unicatt.it.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6052-3511
Giorgio AttinàPediatric Oncology Unit, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario Agostino Gemelli IRCCS, Rome, Italy.
Giorgio PlacidiOphthalmology, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario A. Gemelli, IRCCS, Rome, Italy.
Elena D'AgostinoOphthalmology, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario A. Gemelli, IRCCS, Rome, Italy.
Alessia AmatoDepartment of Ophthalmology, Ospedale Pediatrico Bambino Gesu, Rome, Italy.
Tommaso VerdolottiDepartment of Oncological Radiotherapy and Hematology, Advanced Radiology Center (ARC), Fondazione Policlinico Universitario Agostino Gemelli IRCCS, Rome, Italy.
Stefano MastrangeloPediatric Oncology Unit, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario Agostino Gemelli IRCCS, Rome, Italy.
Benedetto FalsiniOphthalmology, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario A. Gemelli, IRCCS, Rome, Italy.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

purposeA previous double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled, phase II clinical trial reported beneficial effects of a short-term treatment (10 days) with murine nerve growth factor (mNGF) eye drops on visual function in children with optic pathway gliomas (OPG). The present study aimed to evaluate long-term changes in clinical and neuroradiological parameters in the cohort of OPG patients who had previously participated in the phase II mNGF trial.

methodsFifteen of the 18 patients originally enrolled in the phase II mNGF trial agreed to undergo clinical and neuroradiological monitoring over a 48-month follow-up period. Of these, 9 had originally been randomized to mNGF and 6 to placebo; no additional treatment (mNGF, chemotherapy, or radiotherapy) was administered during the extended follow-up. Every 6 months, patients underwent general clinical and neuro-ophthalmological examination, visual evoked potentials (VEP), and photopic negative response of the electroretinogram (PhNR). Brain MRI was performed every 12 months.

resultsComparison of initial and final follow-up median values revealed no statistically significant changes in visual acuity, VEP amplitude, PhNR amplitude, or visual field radius. No significant differences were observed in any parameter relative to baseline values of the mNGF trial. Brain MRI demonstrated stable disease in all patients throughout the observation period.

conclusionThese findings, obtained in an observational extension of the original randomized cohort, indicate favorable long-term safety and tolerability of a short-term course of topical mNGF in children with OPG, with sustained visual and neuroradiological stability over four years, rather than evidence of persistent treatment efficacy. Further prospective, adequately powered and randomized clinical studies are needed to confirm both the short- and long-term clinical efficacy of NGF treatment in preventing OPG-induced visual loss.

Indexed as

Nerve Growth FactorOphthalmic SolutionsOptic Nerve GliomaAdolescentChildChild, PreschoolDouble-Blind MethodElectroretinographyEvoked Potentials, VisualFemaleFollow-Up StudiesHumansMagnetic Resonance ImagingMaleTreatment OutcomeVisual AcuityNerve Growth FactorOphthalmic SolutionsNerve growth factorNeurofibromatosis type 1NeuroprotectionOptic pathway gliomaVisual function

Identifiers

PMID42681266
PMCPMC13534215

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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.