Active clinical trials for "Neoplasms"

The purpose of this study is to optimize magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) sequences for imaging pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma and correlate MRI biomarkers with the expression of the tumor suppressor gene SMAD4 and clinical outcomes with the goal of identifying which biomarkers are predictive of treatment response or non-response. This study will test magnetic resonance techniques on FDA approved clinical MRI machines in treatment-naïve patients with biopsy-proven PDAC.

The purpose of this prospective, non-randomized, single-center pilot exploratory study is to investigate whether established circulating tumor cell (CTC) cultures have a similar response to targeted therapy treatment as the in vivo (patients') disease.

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the genotype of CTCF, a proven transcription factor, in patients with infantile hemangiomas and to monitor tumor growth. The investigators aim to determine whether or not the CTCF genotype might serve as an early and reliable predictor of tumor growth.

For patients diagnosed with early (Stage I) non-small cell lung cancer, a lobe of lung is usually removed at surgery to treat the cancer. For some patients, the removal of a lobe of lung may leave too little lung behind for easy breathing. For some of these patients, it may be possible to perform a smaller-scale surgery ("sub-lobar resection") and place a radioactive implant behind to prevent the cancer from growing back. This study will see how these patients do in terms of controlling their disease treated with a radioactive implant called Cesium-131.

To evaluate the feasibility and performance of coregistered 18F-FDG-PET/MRI in the staging of potentially respectable hilar cholangiocarcinoma.

We have an active research program in gastrointestinal cancers including clinical trials, epidemiologic, and translational studies. We would like to establish a biospecimen bank linked to useful clinical information in order to learn more about diagnostic, predictive and prognostic markers for gastrointestinal cancers. PRIMARY OBJECTIVES: 1. To collect and store tumor and normal tissue (previously collected paraffin embedded or frozen specimen) and blood in patients with gastrointestinal (GI) cancers. SECONDARY OBJECTIVES: Collect detailed clinical information via a patient questionnaire that includes demographic, socioeconomic, lifestyle, family, past medical, medication and cancer histories Collect details about the tumor specimen extracted from patient charts.

Up to half of patients with ocular melanoma (also called iris, choroidal or uveal melanoma) develop metastasis. We have found that certain molecular features of the eye tumor can be detected by gene expression profiling and accurately predict which patients will develop metastasis. This molecular test could eventually allow high risk patients to receive preventative therapy to delay or prevent the development of metastasis. The goal of this study is to prospectively validate the predictive accuracy of the gene expression-based molecular test and compare it to monosomy 3, the most common but potentially less accurate molecular marker for metastasis in ocular melanoma.

The study aims are: To compare the diagnostic performance of parathyroid four-dimensional CT (4D-CT), scintigraphy, and ultrasound in patients who underwent parathyroid surgery for primary hyperparathyroidism. To compare 4D-CT, scintigraphy, and ultrasound for the ability to perform focused parathyroidectomy, and for rates of persistent hyperparathyroidism and complications from parathyroid surgery. Methods The investigators will create a multicenter registry consisting of patients having parathyroid surgery for primary hyperparathyroidism from July 2009 to June 2016. Initial participating centers include Duke University Medical Center, University California Los Angeles (UCLA) and University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS). There will be no intervention in the patient's treatment or imaging. The management will be determined by the surgeon or clinician supervising the patient's care. The registry will consist of patient data regarding basic demographics, history of prior neck/chest surgery or radiation, parathyroid imaging, biochemical evaluation, intraoperative surgical findings, parathyroid pathology, and surgical outcomes within the first 6 months (persistent disease, recurrent laryngeal nerve injury, and hypoparathyroidism). Data will be entered into REDCap with no PHI. The investigators expect to include 3000 patients in the registry (1000 from Duke).

To explore biomarkers predictive of clinical response to Taxane/5-FU/platinum based chemotherapy in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma. To identify negative predictive markers to 5-FU/platinum/Taxane. To elucidate signal transduction pathway attributable to 5-FU/platinum/Taxane resistance. To analyze correlation between the quantity of circulating tumor cells and circulating endothelial cell precursors and treatment response to Taxane/5-FU/platinum based chemotherapy.

The objective of the study is to create a test that will discriminate between malignant and benign ovarian mass that was diagnosed by ultrasound. The investigators will examine about 800 women and at the end of the study the investigators will combine data from the woman's history, the sonographic characters of the mass and serum biological markers along with the woman's outcome (which means - whether the mass was malignant, benign, or disappeared or remained constant with no intervention).