LUTATHERA (Lutetium Lu 177 dotatate) (NCT05278208)

When a child's brain tumor returns after surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy, there is rarely a standard next step.

The idea: borrow a radioactive drug approved for adult gut tumors, and let it find brain tumors that share the same receptor.

Lutathera is a small peptide carrying lutetium-177. It binds a somatostatin receptor that most medulloblastomas, and some gliomas, ependymomas, and meningiomas, carry on their surface. A PET scan shows whether the tumor takes it up. If so, the drug goes in by vein every eight weeks, up to four times, and delivers radiation from inside the tumor.

Margot Lazow leads the trial from Nationwide Children's, with Philadelphia, Cincinnati, and Colorado, for ages four to thirty-nine. Safety first. Public record; not medical advice.