‘Largest stroke clinical trial’ in Canada finds effective drug treatment for stroke

Research conducted by the University of Calgary, in association with the University of Toronto, has found an effective drug treatment for acute ischemic stroke.

Ischemic stroke happens when a blocked artery cuts off blood to an area of the brain, requiring immediate medical attention — the longer a stroke goes untreated, the more damage can be done to the brain.

Dr. Bijoy Menon, a professor at the University of Calgary and a neurologist at the Foothills Medical Centre, says, “through this collaboration these findings could revolutionize stroke treatment throughout the world.”

Menon adds the new drug, Tenecteplase (TNK), works as a clot-dissolving agent and is easy to use.

“It is very easy to administer which makes it a gamechanger when seconds count to save brain cells,” Dr. Menon said.

In the largest stroke clinical trial ever run in Canada, @UCalgaryMed researchers have shown that a heart attack drug can become the standard treatment for acute ischemic stroke https://t.co/JqvqwMOv7G #UCalgary @CNSFNeuroLinks @AHS_YYCZone @CIHR_IRSC @Sunnybrook pic.twitter.com/2E0Flv8oW2

— U Calgary (@UCalgary) July 2, 2022

When having a stroke, time matters, but the current stroke treatment requires a drug, Alteplase (tPA), which is administered through a heavy pump under medical supervision.

Clinician-researcher at the University of Toronto and stroke neurologist at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, Dr. Rick Swartz, says TNK is less complicated.

“TNK could potentially be administered wherever the patient is seen first, at a medical centre or small hospital,” said Dr. Swartz.

The current drug was compared to the new drug in a medical trial, and the results were published in The Lancet.

READ MORE:

• Sandra Oh, Donovan Bailey among dozens appointed to Order of Canada

• ‘Permanent bone loss’: Calgary study finds astronauts suffer on return to Earth

• Alberta invests $4M in sports programs for youth in effort to support active living

The trial shows that TNK worked, “as well as, if not better than, the current recommended drug, tPA.”

“TNK attaches itself to the clot for a longer period of time than tPA which means that blood flow is restored faster and for a longer period of time. Along with discovering a better way to treat acute ischemic stroke,” the research suggests.

Patients and their families participated in the trial amid the pandemic when health systems were significantly stretched.

The “largest stroke clinical trial ever run in Canada”  involved 22 primary stroke centres across the country.