Active clinical trials for "Neoplasms"

It is generally estimated that 5 % of patients with thyroid cancer will develop distant metastases, and most of them had an advanced stage of the disease at presentation. Thirty per cent of them are resistant to radio iodine therapy and are called "refractory". Their long term survival is estimated to be less than 10 %. The objective of this study is to identify the factors associated with poor outcome in a cohort of patients with advanced thyroid cancer followed during 5 years. Anaplastic and medullary thyroid carcinomas were excluded.

The purpose of this project is to assess the feasibility of collecting plasma samples for cardiac biomarker assessment, and to identify if there is an associations between the biomarkers, echocardiographic features and the cardiac PET scan results (in patients receiving radiation therapy). This is the first step in a research program that has an overall goal of being able to predict early-treatment induced cardiotoxicity in patients with breast cancer.

The purpose of this study is to determine if the XPO1 E571K mutation could be used as molecular residual disease biomarker in classical Hodgkin's lymphoma. To determine the interest of the mutation assessment by digital Polymerase Chain Reaction, sensitivity and specificity after 2 courses of chemotherapy (C2) will be compared with the deltaSUVmax determined by Positron Emission Tomography after C2 and at end of treatment.

Multiple myeloma is an incurable bone marrow cancer characterized by an abnormal expansion of plasma cells that secretes monoclonal immunoglobulin. Over the years, the molecular and genetic heterogeneity of the disease have been dissected. With the maturation of technologies, the time is ripe now to apply genomics to diagnose, classify, risk-stratify and prognosticate myeloma in the clinical setting and use this information to guide current treatment. The investigators hypothesize that the use of gene expression profiling as a single test will be more economical, efficient and accurate compared to the current standard panel of tests done at diagnosis. The investigators also hypothesize that the investigator can use predictive markers to identify prospectively patients who will respond to Velcade and that with more effective trebasedonatment, ability to measure depth of response beyond conventional complete response become important since more patients are achieving conventionally determined complete response. Using a cohort of patients treated on a standard treatment protocol based on Velcade-based induction treatment followed by consolidation and maintenance treatment, the investigators will study specifically the feasibility and accuracy of gene expression diagnostics, the predictive power of the investigators predefined predictive markers and the clinical utility of minimal residual disease measurement in myeloma. The results of the investigators study will allow us to improve the diagnosis, and prognostication of MM patients The investigators hypothesized that this will speed up diagnosis, provide comprehensive information for the classification and risk stratification of MM patients and can completely replace the current FISH assay and may be cheaper. The investigators hypothesized that TRAF3 deletion or mutation and MYC activation will identify patients that will have a significantly better response to Velcade. Modern treatment induced deeper response. More sensitive method of disease detection will allow us to know the fully extent of response to these treatment

For the past 50 years, gastric cancer has been one of the ten most frequent cancers and the second leading cause of cancer-related death in the world. In Taiwan, it is the fifth most common cause of cancer-related deaths, accounting for 6.3% of all cancer deaths. The poor prognosis of gastric cancer is mostly caused by the extensive metastasis to the lymph nodes, liver, and peritoneal dissemination even if curative resection was performed. The main cause of recurrence after curative or noncurative resection of advanced tumors is peritoneal metastasis because of possible direct spillage and dissemination of tumor cells as a result of surgical manipulation, and it is associated with a poor prognosis. As yet, no effective treatment has been developed for this condition. The development of peritoneal metastasis is a multistep process, beginning with attachment to peritoneal mesothelial cells, retraction of the mesothelial cells and exposure of the basement membrane, attachment to the basement membrane, degradation in the extracellular matrix, proliferation by the cancer cells, and angiogenesis, and it is clear that many types of agents are involved at the various stages of this process. Developing a new therapeutic method for this mode of metastasis is very important for improvement of gastric cancer treatment. CTGF is a secretory protein belonging to the CCN family (one among the three originally discovered members: cysteine-rich61, CTGF, and nephroblastoma-overexpressed gene). It is a multifunctional growth factor involved in wound healing, inflammation, cell adhesion, chemotaxis, apoptosis, tumor growth, and fibrosis. Recent studies showed that overexpression of CTGF in human oral squamous cell carcinoma reduces cell growth and tumorigenecity. Similar tumor growth inhibitory effects were observed in lung cancer cells in which CTGF overexpression was less angiogenic and metastatic due to blocking of the VEGF A signaling pathway. CTGF was also reported to be a key regulator of colorectal cancer invasion and metastasis, and it appears to be a better prognostic factor. These studies suggest that CTGF may involve the processes of peritoneal metastasis which includes cancer cell adhesion in peritoneum, proliferation and angiogenesis. Peritoneal mesothelium is the first surface encountered by disseminated tumor cells and successful adhesion is, therefore, of paramount importance in metastasis formation. Therefore, we hypothesized that CTGF is a potential molecule target, which may be related to cell adhesion to peritoneum, the first step of peritoneal metastasis, and its exact mechanism may includes proliferation and angiogenesis. In order to answer these important questions, first, we have performed the preliminary studies to prove CTGF did express in different gastric cancer cell lines including AGS, N87, TSGH, and MKN-45 by using RT-PCR and Western blotting, and gastric cancer tissues by using immunohistochemical method. Second, we demonstrated different levels of CTGF expression in different cell lines pose different adhesion ability in in-vitro adhesion assay. Third, we conducted a transient CTGF-overexpressed MKN45 gastric cancer cell line, and CTGF-overexpressed cell line had lower adhesive ability compared to the control. Next step in this project, we will be studying the roles of CTGF plays in cellular and molecular biology in vitro and in vivo and clinical significance associated with therapeutic potential of peritoneal metastasis from gastric cancer. We will generate stable clones of MKN45 cells harboring CTGF and its control cell line to elucidate the roles of CTGF in cancer cell adhesion, proliferation and angiogenesis in peritoneum.

The purpose of this study is to investigate if 14 weeks of pazopanib therapy prior to surgery (nephrectomy) is of benefit to patients with metastatic renal cancer. Ninety-five patients will be recruited into his study.

The aim of this study : Through the study of genes of protein, transporter, translator and epigenome investigating the effect of anti-cancer treatment or the key factor of the MDR (Multidrug resistance) on the blood cancer patients who are under the anti-cancer sork treatment Giving a service of anticancer medicine therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM) and genotyping

Currently, very few centers offer Photodynamic therapy for unresectable Cholangiocarcinoma in the United States. Several European studies have reported the efficacy and safety of Photodynamic Therapy (PDT) for Cholangiocarcinoma, however, only a few studies have reported the same in the United States. The establishment of a registry to capture all PDT cases within and outside US can help the investigators evaluate a larger and non-ambiguous sample population. This would help the investigators evaluate the technical success rates, clinical success rates, feasibility and safety of PDT for unresectable cholangiocarcinoma. With more endoscopists considering PDT as a therapeutic option along with adjuvant treatment for cholangiocarcinoma, there is a need to further evaluate the efficacy and safety of such combined procedures as well. The ultimate objective is to assess if PDT with or without additional or adjuvant treatment options prolongs survival duration and improves quality of life in patients with unresectable cholangiocarcinoma. This multicenter registry has been initiated: To document the impact of PDT on the clinical management of unresectable cholangiocarcinoma. To assess the clinical and technical success rates of PDT for unresectable cholangiocarcinoma.

The purpose of this registry is to record information and evaluate the impact of Endoscopic Ultrasound (EUS) Guided Endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) on the management of pancreatico-biliary disorders. The registry will evaluate efficacy, safety and technical success of the Endoscopic Ultrasound (EUS)Guided Endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) procedures. The safety and efficacy of various EUS-Guided ERCP procedures have been assessed in a series of studies. This multi-center registry has been initiated: To document the impact of EUS-Guided ERCP procedures on the management of pancreatico-biliary disorders including malignancies. To assess the clinical and technical success rates of EUS-Guided ERCPs for diagnostic or therapeutic procedures. Design is retrospective and prospective registry study. Procedures that will be captured include: EUS-Coils placement EUS Glue injection EUS-Fiducial placement EUS-Neurolysis EUS-Stent placement EUS-alcohol injection EUS-fluid collection, abscess or cavity drainage EUS guided ductal drainage EUS-guided Ablation EUS-guided anastomosis 11. EUS Guided ERCP for gallbladder, pancreatic duct or biliary duct drainage

Autologous hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) is a treatment strategy used as advanced line therapy for different malignancies, mainly hematological. Its main advantage lies in the ability to provide hematologic and immune rescue after high dose chemotherapy therapy. The first requirement of a successful transplantation is recruitment of sufficient amount of cells. This is achieved by mobilizing CD34+ stem cells from the bone marrow to the peripheral blood, by G-CSF priming, and then harvesting the cells from the peripheral blood at the right timing by means of apheresis. Currently, the decision on the optimal collection timing is based on the pre-collection CD34 cells blood concentrations. The investigators goal is to investigate whether telomerase, the telomere elongation enzyme, which constitutionally and solely expressed in progenitor cells, is correlated with collection and post HCT engraftment characteristics. The investigators will collect blood from patients when starting GCSF and on the day of planned apheresis. Pearson correlation test will be used to correlate between telomerase activity in the samples and with collection and engraftment characteristics.