Active clinical trials for "Neoplasms"

Investigator determined the factor of surgery associated with the survival of pancreatic neuroendocrine tumor.

Currently, patients of suitable fitness with non-metastatic esophageal cancer are treated with surgery, radiotherapy or chemoradiotherapy. If treated with radio or chemoradiotherapy, a Computerised tomography (CT) scan is performed and is the dataset used for planning radiotherapy. Information from the endoscopic ultrasound (EUS), performed during routine staging, is used to help localize the tumor, as tumors of the esophagus are poorly visualised on CT. This information is subjective and dependant on the clinician performing the procedure. The tumor is described in relation to common anatomical landmarks. Interpretion of this information can lead to over-compensation when attempting to cover the tumor with a radiation field, to avoid a "miss". It is thought that using fiducial markers called Visicoils placed in or adjacent to the tumor's top and bottom extent at the time of EUS, will lead to better definition of the tumor in the planning process and hence, improvement in local tumor control, and reduction in radiotherapy dose to normal tissue.

In adrenal tumors, the investigators will examine if there is any correlation between WIESS criteria, prognosis of the tumor, and the different labeling index of the following proliferation biomarkers: MCM3, MCM2, KI-67, P53, NEUROPILIN -1, METALLOTHIONEIN, SEMAPHORIN-3A.

Predictive biomarkers are needed to identify those patients with higher risk of recurrence after surgery for colon cancer with curative intent. Our main objective is to determine a metabolite profile in blood plasma from patients operated from colorectal cancer that can be associated with the oncologic outcome and be validated as predictive biomarkers in future studies. A secondary objective is to study the glycolytic metabolism of colon cancer cell lines treated with plasma samples from the same patients. In particular, to validate the increased utilization of lactate by tumor cells as a metabolic substrate using postoperative human samples. Patients with colorectal cancer that have undergone surgical resection will be included. Plasma samples will be obtained before surgery and the 4th day and the 3rd, 6th, 12th, and 18th months after surgery. Metabolic profiles in plasma samples will be determined using a kit that allows the quantification of 180 metabolites by mass spectrometry. A clinical follow up will be maintained for at least 2 years to identify tumor recurrences.

Description of new transcriptional profiles associated with risk of relapse and identification of specific sites of relapse in non-small cell lung cancer, toxicity and resistance to adjuvant chemotherapy in completely resected non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

The goal of this project is to get more insight into the (neuro)ophthalmological characteristics of children with neurofibromatosis type 1. This way investigators would like to update the current guidelines for follow up and treatment of optic pathway gliomas. Clinical findings will be compared with the results of Optical coherence tomography (OCT) and MRI (magnetic resonance imaging).

The investigators study the VEGF signaling in ECC cell lines,patients and its mechanism in ECC growth, proliferation and apoptosis.

The investigators will collect plasma samples at baseline, during treatment, and at progression.

Subtle myocardial deformation abnormalities in asymptomatic nf-1 patients: is cardiac screening needed?

Interethnic variability in chemotherapy response is becoming increasingly evident, making approaches for customizing chemotherapy treatment to different ethnic populations desirable. At the same time, significant genetic variation has also been observed between ethnic groups, including many germline and somatic pharmacogenetic variants involved in chemotherapy pharmacology. Recently, based on meta-analyses of studies on germline pharmacogenetic variant frequencies and clinical trials, the investigators found that chemotherapy outcomes between Asians and Caucasians colorectal cancer (CRC) patients could potentially be inferred from the frequencies of variants between the ethnic groups and their respective biological functions. In this study, the investigators seek to further clarify the validity of using pharmacogenetic variants to customize chemotherapy between ethnicities through the following specific aims: (1) To verify the differences observed in the frequency of germline pharmacogenetic variants related to chemotherapy between Asian and Caucasian CRC patients, (2) To test whether variations in the frequency of somatic pharmacogenetic gene mutations between Asian and Caucasian CRC patients could be used to infer differences in clinical outcomes between the two ethnicities. (3) (4) For Aim 1, DNA samples from approximately 1000 Asian and Caucasian CRC patients each will be analyzed for the frequency of a panel of germline pharmacogenetic variants identified in our meta-analyses using high-throughput methodology. For Aim 2, meta-analyses will be performed on pharmacogenetic studies and clinical trials to establish the relative frequencies of somatic variants and clinical outcomes in Asian and Caucasian CRC patients. These frequencies will be verified on the same series of DNA samples used in Aim 1. The clinical outcomes inferred from the frequency differences and biological functions will then be compared to those summarized from clinical trials. This data could provide a basis for developing a rational approach to customizing chemotherapy in non-Caucasian populations and improve assessment of drug feasibility in different ethnic populations.If validated, this working hypothesis would be of high clinical interest, giving the opportunity to use this as a DNA prognosis biomarker in CRC. Pharmacogenetic frequencies could be a potentially useful approach for predicting likely chemotherapy outcomes in non-Caucasian populations