Anurag Saxena
Clinical research fellow at Cardiff University who coordinated TRON, a placebo-controlled trial testing whether everolimus improves memory and thinking in adults with tuberous sclerosis complex
Clinical Research Fellow, Institute of Medical Genetics, Cardiff University · PhD, Cardiff University (2021), with Julian Sampson
Everolimus, an mTOR blocker, is approved for the tumours and seizures of tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC). Many people with TSC also have problems with memory, attention and planning, and mouse studies suggested mTOR blockers might help. Anurag Saxena is first author of the main report of TRON, a trial run from Cardiff that tested this in adults with TSC (SAX2026). Thirty-eight patients were randomised, two on everolimus for every one on placebo, for 24 weeks. Most people in both groups improved on the thinking tests (87% on everolimus, 75% on placebo), which points to practice and placebo effects rather than a clear drug benefit. Side effects were more common on everolimus. The trial was small, so a modest effect cannot be ruled out, but it gives no support for prescribing everolimus for cognition alone.
Saxena coordinated TRON and carried out the clinical assessments as part of a PhD at Cardiff University, completed in 2021 with a thesis on the effect of everolimus on neurocognitive aspects of TSC. The thesis thanks Julian Sampson, the senior author of the trial report, and Derek Jones. Saxena works as a Clinical Research Fellow at Cardiff's Institute of Medical Genetics, with papers on TSC epilepsy, everolimus side effects and the clinical features of mTOR pathway gene mutations.
Milestones in the Atlas
A selection, not a full bibliography: only papers that meet the Atlas inclusion criteria.
| Year | Evidence | Study |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 | H | Everolimus for the treatment of neuropsychological deficits in tuberous sclerosis complex: findings from the TRON multicentre randomised controlled trial SAX2026 First author: reported the TRON randomised trial, in which everolimus did not clearly beat placebo for memory and thinking in adults with TSC. |
Co-authors in the Atlas 2
People with a profile here who share at least one study with Anurag Saxena.
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- Julian R. Sampson Clinical geneticist who led the consortium that identified the TSC2 gene and led trials of mTOR inhibitors in tuberous sclerosis, including the TRON trial of everolimus for cognition.
- Petrus J. de Vries Child and adolescent psychiatrist at the University of Cape Town known for work on TAND, the behavioural, learning and mental-health problems of tuberous sclerosis complex, and co-author of major everolimus trials in TSC
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