Active clinical trials for "Neoplasms"

To the investigators knowledge there is no research data published to date regarding the lower urinary tract symptoms in women with leiomyomas. The primary aims of this study are: To determine prevalence of lower urinary tract symptoms in patients who present for care for symptomatic leiomyomata. To compare change in lower urinary tract symptoms within treatment groups measured by the UDI-6 total before and at six months after three common treatments for symptomatic uterine fibroids including: hysterectomy, myomectomy, or uterine artery embolization. The study proposed here will hopefully answer the question if one particular therapy is appropriate to treat fibroids and relieve lower urinary tract symptoms.

The goal of this study is to create a comprehensive database of Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) and of pathology for patients with brain tumors. Both standard, advanced, and research MRI components may be included, these will be analyzed in comparison with pathology results if/when a biopsy is obtained, and also used to predict/evaluate responses to therapy. This study will create a database of de-identified MRI images which include these techniques so that brain tumors can be studied over time (longitudinally) in an organized manner.

Neuroblastoma (NB), a common cancer of early childhood originating from primitive sympathetic neural precursors, is characterized by the remarkable heterogeneity of clinical behaviors from spontaneous regression to rapid progression and death. The current therapeutic options are developed according to the Children's Oncology Group (COG) risk stratification criteria based on clinical and biological factors, including tumor stage, MYCN status, age at diagnosis, histology, and ploidy status. 1-2 The treatment strategies ranging from observation alone to intensive multimodality therapy depends on the risk stratification of three subgroups of low, intermediate, and high risk of death. Despite a number of molecular and biologic factors has been identified to predict the prognosis, MYCN amplification, which occurring in roughly 20% of primary NB, is one of the most powerful prognostic factors.3 The co-opting neurotrophin pathways including the neurotrophin receptors (TrkA, TrkB, and TrkC) and their ligands (NGF, BDNF, and neurotrophin-3, respectively), which regulate the differentiation, apoptosis, and growth of neural cells, are also important molecules related to the prognosis of NB.4 However, a proportion of patients with MYCN nonamplified NB still presents clinically aggressive progression similar to those of MYCN amplified tumors, suggesting that other unfavorable molecules exist for the inferior survival.5-6 The IGF-II RNA-binding protein 3 (IMP3), also known as L532S or K homology domain-containing protein overexpressed in cancer (KOC), is a member of RNA-binding protein family which includes IMP1, IMP2, and IMP3. The IMPs are primarily expressed during early embryogenesis and have been implicated in various post-transcriptional functions, including mRNA localization, cell growth, and cell migration during early embryogenesis.7-8 The IMP3 orthologue Vg1-RBP in Xenopus has also been described to promote migration of neural crest cells.9 Recently, the IMP3 is considered an oncofetal protein by increasing proliferation and invasion in various cancers including pancreas, kidney, and lung cancers.10-14 The expression of IMP3 is, however, low or undetectable in adjacent benign tissues.13 These lines of evidence indicate that IMP3 is capable of a potential biomarker to predict cancer progression and metastasis, and may serve as a target molecule for cancer therapy.14 oligonucleotide microarray is a powerful tool to do a genome-wide screening of candidate genes related to cancer prognosis.15 In this study, 22 primary NB tumors were subjected to oligonucleotide microarray analysis. Among the differentially expressed genes according to the patients' prognosis, IMP3 showed an especially high expression level in NB tumors carrying unfavorable prognosis. Further evaluation of IMP3 expression in a large sample size demonstrated that IMP3 expression could predict an unfavorable prognosis of NB patients independent of other biomarkers. Targeting of IMP3 expression in a NB cell line did suppress cell invasion ability, suggesting that IMP3 could not only be a prognostic factor, but also be a potential therapeutic target of NB.

To determine if MRD (minimal residual disease) can be found in the blood (only) as opposed to bone marrow in children with ALL (acute lymphoblastic leukemia).

This study is designed to collect tissue samples that may aid in the treatment and learning about various oncology diagnosis.

The purpose of this study is to determine progression-free survival of lung cancer patients who received gefitinib in clinical practice in Thailand.

The primary purpose of the proposed research is to explore methods of obtaining symptom assessments from pediatric oncology patients and/or their caregivers in hopes of improving the accuracy and thoroughness of these reports. Additionally the researchers hope to simply staff efforts in obtaining detailed medical histories from pediatric oncology patients.

Videoendoscopy is the standard tool for examination of gastrointestinal tract. However, precancerous lesions and early gastric cancer can be easily missed by routine videoendoscopy. Autofluorescence Imaging (AFI) and Narrow band imaging (NBI) are 2 new imaging systems used in endoscopy which are recently developed. AFI based on the presence of natural tissue fluorescence on the gastrointestinal tract. By computation of the difference in the reflecting images, the system can reveal early cancers that are not detectable by standard endoscopy. NBI is a high resolution imaging using lights with narrowed wavelength range, which able to enhance the fine structure of the mucosa. Recent studies suggested combined AFI and NBI can improve the detection of early esophageal and gastric cancers. The investigators are conducting a prospective randomized cross-over study to compare the accuracy between this combined AFI/NBI imaging with standard videoendoscopy in the detection of precancerous lesions and gastric cancer in a high risk population inSingapore. The investigators hypothesis is that this new combined imaging system improves the investigators detection of high risk lesions of stomach.

The investigators are studying new ways to make treatment decisions for these types of cancer. Technologies at the Van Andel Research Institute (VARI) are available to determine a tumor's molecular makeup (gene expression profile). This technology (called "Xenobase") is being used to discover new ways to understand cancers and potentially predict the best treatments for patients with cancer. The researchers at VARI have filed a patent on the Xenobase and the specific network analysis method that the investigators will be using as part of this study. A specimen obtained from the tumor during a recent surgical, biopsy, or bone marrow procedure will be sent to the Van Andel Research Institute. Researchers will attempt to identify the molecular makeup within the specimen, as well as in blood and urine samples in patients with aggressive and/or refractory cancer. This additional testing is different than the routine tests currently performed at the hospital for the evaluation of cancer. The goals of this part of the study are: To determine if the investigators tumor board committee (at minimum a panel of 3 oncologists and 1 pharmacist) can use patient specific cancer cells to make real-time treatment decision using patient specific genetic information, and predicted therapies generated in the Xenobase report.

The purpose of this study is to measure, in pilot/observational study, panels of circulating proteins in real time at the onset of neutropenic fever/infection in patients with acute or chronic leukemias undergoing chemotherapy or other biologic treatment. And to generate preliminary trend results in panels of circulating proteins longitudinally during the period of neutropenia and to correlate those values to clinical/laboratory data and patient outcomes.