Active clinical trials for "Neoplasms"

The RATIO registry is a French registry designed by a multidisciplinary group to collect data on opportunistic and severe bacterial infections and lymphoma in patients treated with TNF-a antagonists ( infliximab, etanercept and adalimumab). A total of 486 medical units in metropolitan France participate in the RATIO registry. All diagnosis are retained after validation by 2 qualified infectious disease or haematologist physicians (on the basis of the standardized case report form, the hospitalisation summary, and the microbiological and radiological results). Risk factors for developing these conditions when treated by TNF-a antagonists will be identified in a case control study. Incidence of these diseases will be calculated.

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the second common cause of death in the Western world, and is very increasing in Japan. Fecal occult blood test (FOBT) is used routinely for CRC screening, which has been shown to reduce the incidence, morbidity, and mortality of CRC. However, there is a need to develop a novel method to improve sensitivity. The investigators reported that Fecal COX-2 assay, one of fecal RNA test, is potentially useful for colorectal cancer screening (Gastroenterology 127; 422-427, 2004). So the investigators planed to compare fecal RNA test with FOBT for detecting colorectal cancer and adenoma.

Computed tomography (CT) colonography has gained widespread multi-disciplinary interest as an evolving noninvasive colorectal screening examination, with the potential of improved patient compliance. The investigator's prior work demonstrated that the bowel preparation was the least tolerable aspect of colorectal evaluation when compared to the CT colonography and optical colonoscopy procedures. Stool tagging could provide a more gentle and efficient bowel preparation, with fewer false positives due to retained stool-mimicking polyps. The researchers hypothesize that image quality and patient preference will vary with stool tagging concentration and dosing schedule. The researchers propose to evaluate specific stool tagging protocols with the following aims: AIM 1: Perform a randomized trial of three specific stool tagging protocols using barium and iodine at CT colonography in a well-characterized cohort of patients undergoing colorectal evaluation. AIM 2: Analyze the CT colonography and optical colonoscopy data to assess differences across stool tagging protocols for the outcome measures of patient preference, image quality in the presence of tagging, and diagnostic reader performance. The researchers will use specific variations in stool tagging techniques to determine the best image quality of CT data (e.g., homogenous tagging of fluid and stool), and highest patient acceptability, as well as evaluate the adequacy of preparation for same-day colonoscopy. Diagnostic reader performance will focus on the accuracy for detecting all neoplastic lesions including colon cancers, adenomatous polyps, sessile adenomas and flat adenomas. Most importantly, these results will help inform the design of a larger trial of an optimized CT colonography technique in a community setting.

Expression of hypoxia-inducible factor-α in oral precancers and cancers

Ovarian cancer became a more and more important disease in recent years due to its first mortality rate of gynecologic malignancies. The incidence of ovarian cancer also increased in recent year in Taiwan. The lack of symptoms, difficulties in early diagnosis, insufficient accurate tumor markers, and lack of information about ovarian tumor biology contribute to the poor prognosis in ovarian cancer patients. The prognostic parameters for ovarian carcinomas are tumor stage, histologic subtype, degree of malignancy, and residual tumor after surgical treatment. However, these factors present an incomplete picture of the tumor biology of ovarian cancer and are frequently interrelated. Thus, the identification of new biologic factors predictive of individual disease course and prognosis would be extremely useful. Detection of tumor markers that are released into the circulation can aid in the diagnosis and/or monitoring of therapeutic responses of patients with various tumors, including carcinomas of ovary. CA125 is the most commonly used serum marker for patients with ovarian carcinoma. Although it has proven clinically valuable in monitoring the response of patients to therapy, some ovarian carcinomas do not express CA125, and CA125 often is increased in patients with inflammatory disease. Thus, there is a need for improvement, either in the form of a more specific and/or sensitive assay or an assay that uses a different marker and can be used to complement CA125 toward the goal to improve patient survival by improving diagnosis. Mesothelin is a 40-kDa glycosylphosphatidylinositol-linked glycoprotein. In normal tissues, the expression of mesothelin has subsequently been shown to be largely restricted to mesothelial cells, although immunoreactivity has also been reported in epithelial cells of the trachea, tonsil, fallopian tube, and kidney. Mesothelin has been shown to be over-expressed in pancreatic carcinomas, gastric carcinoma and ovarian carcinoma, and it seems that mesothelin may be utilized as a new tumor marker for ovarian carcinoma. We will evaluate that if mesothelin can be a new potential tumor marker for ovarian cancer in this proposal.

The purpose of this trial is to explore the preliminary efficacy of Chiauranib monotherapy in patients with advanced or unresectable soft tissue sarcoma who failed standard therapy, and the safety of Chiauranib monotherapy in patients with advanced or unresectable soft tissue sarcoma who failed standard therapy and the relationship between potential biomarkers and preliminary efficacy.