A Prospective Study of Memantine in Patients With Cirrhosis and Liver Cancer

Recruitment Status
RECRUITING
(See Contacts and Locations)Verified August 2025 by Inova Health Care Services
Sponsor
Inova Health Care Services
Information Provided by (Responsible Party)
Inova Health Care Services
Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier
NCT06007846
Other Study ID Numbers:
U23-01-4957
First Submitted
July 25, 2023
First Posted
August 22, 2023
Last Update Posted
September 29, 2025
Last Verified
August 2025

ClinicalTrials.gov processed this data on September 2025. Link to the current ClinicalTrials.gov record .

History of Changes

Study Details

Study Description

Condition or DiseaseIntervention/Treatment
Hepatocellular CarcinomaCirrhosis
Drug: Namenda

Study Design

Study TypeInterventional
Actual Enrollment12 participants
Design AllocationN/A
Interventional ModelSingle Group Assignment
MaskingNone (Open Label)
Primary PurposeTreatment
Official TitleA Prospective Cohort Study of Single Agent Memantine in Patients With Child-Pugh Score ≥ B7 Cirrhosis and Hepatocellular Carcinoma
Study Start DateJuly 30, 2023
Actual Primary Completion Date2mos 1w from now
Actual Study Completion Date3mos 1w from now

Groups and Cohorts

Group/CohortIntervention/Treatment
Arm 1
Drug: Namenda
Memantine 5 mg by mouth once daily, to be titrated up to 20 mg daily

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcome Measures
  1. Patients Progression Free Survival at 6 months
    The response and progression will be evaluated by the Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors (RECIST) guideline version 1.1. The progression of the disease is defined as at least a 20% increase in the sum of the Longest Diameter LD of target lesions, taking the smallest sum LD recorded as reference since the treatment started or the appearance of one or more new lesions or death due to disease without objective evidence of progression.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study(Adult, Older Adult)
Sexes Eligible for StudyAll
Accepts Healthy VolunteersNo
Inclusion Criteria
1. Age 18 or older. 2. Patients have newly diagnosed and previously untreated, histologically or radiologically confirmed hepatocellular carcinoma with at least one lesion that is measurable by RECIST 1.1 criteria. A prior HCC lesion that was treated surgically or by radiation is allowed as long as it was at least 2 years or more from the current HCC diagnosis. 3. Patient's cancer must be deemed locally advanced and unresectable as per the consensus of the Inova Multidisciplinary Cancer Care Conference. 4. Patients must have a Child-Pugh cirrhosis score of B7 or greater and deemed not a candidate for aggressive systemic treatment. 5. Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group Performance Status of 0-2. 6. Patients must have adequate blood counts and organ function. 7. Memantine is harmful to the human fetus. For this reason, sexually active males with partners of childbearing potential must agree to use an accepted and effective method of contraception prior to study entry and for the duration of the study. Women of child bearing potential must have a negative serum pregnancy test result within 24 hours prior to initiation of study treatment. They must also agree to use agree to use an accepted and effective method of contraception prior to study entry and for the duration of the study. 8. Patients must demonstrate ability to understand and the willingness to sign a written informed consent document. 9. Men and women, regardless of race, ethnic group or sexual orientation are eligible for this study.
Exclusion Criteria
1. Patients with Child-Pugh A cirrhosis. 2. Female patients who are pregnant or breast-feeding. 3. Concomitant illness or history that would prevent adequate patient assessment or in the investigators' opinion pose an added risk for study participants. 4. Life-threatening intercurrent illness. 5. Anticipated poor compliance. 6. Subject is enrolled in a separate interventional clinical trial. 7. Active tuberculosis. 8. Significant cardiovascular disease (such as New York Heart Association Class II or greater cardiac disease, myocardial infarction, or cerebrovascular accident) within 3 months prior to initiation of study treatment, unstable arrhythmia, or unstable angina. 9. Known fibrolamellar HCC, sarcomatoid HCC, or mixed cholangiocarcinoma and HCC. 10. Uncontrolled tumor-related pain. Patients requiring pain medication must be on a stable regimen at study entry for at least 10 days prior to study entry. 11. Major surgical procedure, open biopsy, or significant traumatic injury within 28 days prior to initiation of study treatment. 12. Symptomatic, untreated, or actively progressing central nervous system (CNS) metastases. 13. Patients undergoing other anti-cancer treatment. Palliative radiation for symptom control will be allowed while on protocol.

Contacts and Locations

Sponsors and CollaboratorsInova Health Care Services
Locations
Inova Schar Cancer Institute | Fairfax Virginia, United States, 22031Inova Health Care Service | Falls Church Virginia, United States, 22042
Investigators
Principal Investigator: Arthur Winer, MD, Inova Health Care Service