An international clinical trial in the UK is examining whether Alzheimer’s disease can be delayed or prevented before symptoms like memory loss and confusion begin. The trial marks a significant shift from treating existing symptoms to intervening much earlier to delay or prevent the disease. The Phase III PrevenTRON trial, led in the UK by Surrey and Borders Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, will study the experimental drug trontinemab in around 1,600 adults aged 55 to 80 who have no symptoms of Alzheimer’s but are at high risk of developing the disease in the future. Who Is Eligible To Take Part In The Alzheimer’s Prevention Trial? To be eligible to participate, the participant must have no memory problems. Researchers will use blood testing to look for p-tau217, a biomarker associated with Alzheimer’s-related changes in the brain and increased future risk of cognitive decline. The trial is recruiting internationally. At least 15 UK hospitals are expected to participate. Surrey and Borders Partnership is the first site in the UK and Europe to open the study. Participants will be randomly assigned to receive either trontinemab or a placebo. Researchers will then follow them for around four to six years to determine whether treating the disease before symptoms appear can delay or prevent dementia.Also read: Hormone Replacement Therapy May Lower Dementia Risk In Women, Shows Study How Does Trontinemab Work? Trontinemab, developed by pharmaceutical company Roche, targets amyloid plaques, abnormal deposits of the protein that build up in the brains of people with Alzheimer’s disease. The drug, with an antibody-based approach, intends to cross the blood-brain barrier more efficiently and remove amyloid from the brain. Early studies have shown encouraging results. According to reports on the new trial, trontinemab cleared amyloid plaques in about 90% of people with early Alzheimer’s within 28 weeks. However, these results came from people who already had early onset of the disease, not people being treated before symptoms, so they cannot prove that the drug will prevent Alzheimer’s.Also read: Cyclospora to Alzheimer’s: Trump Administration Scales Back Key Health Research Can Alzheimer’s Be Treated Before Symptoms Appear? Changes in the brain due to Alzheimer’s can begin in the brain years before memory problems develop. By the time symptoms become obvious, substantial biological changes may already have occurred. Professor Ramin Nilforooshan, consultant psychiatrist and chief investigator for PrevenTRON, said the trial is asking a fundamentally different question from many previous Alzheimer’s studies. With this trial, researchers intend to intervene before symptoms begin. “PrevenTRON addresses a different question, whether we can act earlier, before symptoms begin,” he said. Trontinemab remains an experimental drug, and researchers do not yet know whether removing amyloid in people who have no symptoms will actually prevent or delay dementia. The study will also help establish whether identifying people at increased risk using blood biomarkers and treating them years before symptoms is practical and safe. If successful, this could eventually change how Alzheimer’s disease is managed, as healthcare professionals can move from risk detection and prevention rather than waiting for symptoms.