Active clinical trials for "Respiratory Tract (Lung and Bronchial) Diseases"

Rationale: The most important complaint in severe COPD is dyspnea which is associated with a diminished exercise tolerance, reduced quality of life and can lead to anxiety and depression. If dyspnea continues to exist despite optimal therapy it is called refractory dyspnea. There is evidence that morphine is effective and can safely be prescribed for treating refractory dyspnea. However, a Dutch study recently showed that few pulmonologists actually prescribe opioids for this indication. The main reasons for this are concerns about side effects and respiratory insufficiency as well as negative emotions for the patient and families at the thought of using morphine. Most studies investigating opioids for treatment of dyspnea are conducted with morphine tablets, and only a part of these patients suffered from COPD. To our knowledge there has not been a randomized controlled trial investigating fentanyl patches for refractory dyspnea in COPD patients. However, studies comparing fentanyl and morphine in pain management show that patients may prefer fentanyl patches and have less problems with obstipation. Objective: There are three main objectives for this study. First, the investigators will investigate the following hypothesis: Both fentanyl and morphine provide a reduction of dyspnea which is better than placebo. Fentanyl has less side effects than morphine. Secondly, with this Dutch multi-center study the investigators would like to enlarge the evidence base and contribute to the experience with opioids for refractory dyspnea in COPD thereby greatly facilitating its implementation in the Netherlands. Finally, the investigators will develop and evaluate educational material about opioid use for dyspnea in COPD. Study design: This is a multi-center double blind, double-dummy cross-over randomized placebo-controlled trial with three study arms. A total of 60 COPD patients will be included in this study. Participants will be treated sequentially with three combinations of medication and/or placebo medication in a random order. They will receive either a Fentanyl patch in combination with placebo tablets, a placebo patch with Morphine Slow release tablets or a placebo patch with placebo tablets. Main study parameters/endpoints: The primary endpoint is change in dyspnea sensation Secondary endpoints are change in HR-QoL, anxiety, sleep quality, hypercapnia and the number and seriousness of side effect.

This trial will evaluate whether empirical treatment against cytomegalovirus and tuberculosis improves survival of HIV-infected infants with severe pneumonia.

Building upon the clinical experience of the investigators with the magnetic resonance (MR)-guided radiation therapy system and applying principals of hypofractionation toward the current treatment paradigm of concurrent chemoradiation and consolidation immunotherapy for locally advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), this prospective, single-arm Phase II clinical trial with safety lead-in will test the feasibility and outcomes of this approach.

Seasonal influenza epidemics are important causes of morbidity and mortality. Cytokine dysregulation, with high levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines, occurs in patients with severe influenza. Early therapy with a neuraminidase inhibitor (NAI) is associated with better outcome in patients hospitalized with influenza, but significant mortality occurs despite use of antivirals. N-acetylcysteine (NAC) is a modified form of the amino acid cysteine, with anti-oxidant properties. NAC was shown to inhibit the production of pro-inflammatory molecules in lung epithelial cells infected with influenza viruses. Previous case report showed that high dose NAC, administered as continuous intravenous infusion, was effective and safe in improving the clinical outcomes. We aim to perform a randomized controlled trial to evaluate the therapeutic role of adjunctive NAC in the clinical management of patients with influenza complicated by lower respiratory tract involvement and abnormal respiratory status. Such information when available may reveal the potential of NAC for optimization of management of severe influenza, and provide important insights into future adjunctive therapy research.

Overall survival (OS) of patients with advanced (stage IIIB/IV) non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) remains short after the first line of treatment with a median OS of 12.2 months in non squamous NSCLC and 9.2 months in squamous NSCLC . In this setting the programmed death 1/ligand 1 (PD-1/-L1) were targeted with nivolumab (IgG4) in advanced squamous and nonsquamous NSCLC leading to an increase of the 1-year OS rate of approximately 10-15% in both histologies. Nivolumab, pembrolizumab and atezolizumab are now considered a standard of care in 2nd line advanced NSCLC and in 1st line for pembrolizumab but but prognosis still remains poor in advanced NSCLC. Overall survival (OS) of patients with advanced (stage III/IV) NSCLC remains limited with a median OS of 12.2 months in non-squamous NSCLC and 9.2 months in squamous NSCLC if anti-PD1 alone. It is of around 16 months if pembrolizumab is combined with chemotherapy. Preclinical data indicates that anti-tumor efficacy is increased when anti-PD-1/-L1 are combined with irradiation (IR). Radiotherapy alone can elicit tumor cell death which can increase tumor antigen in the blood stream, favoring recognition by the immune system and its activation against tumor cells outside of the radiation field (="abscopal effect"). IR may also reverse acquired resistance to PD-1 blockade immunotherapy by limiting T-cell exhaustion. Because of these preclinical and clinical data several studies analysing the combination of IR and anti-PD1 in NSCLC are ongoing. Among them, two studies are testing the administration of IR and nivolumab in stage III NSCLC: the NCT02768558 phase III trial (RTOG), and the NCT02434081 phase II trial (ETOP). Antonia et al [2017] tested the use of anti-PD-L1 after chemoradiotherapy in unresectable stage III NSCLC. Median time to distant metastasis was increased (23.2 months vs. 14.6 months, p<0.001). An increase of OS is consequently expected. However, no study involving concurrent RT and pembrolizumab combined with chemotherapy in advanced NSCLC is ongoing, which is the purpose of the present study, NIRVANA-Lung.

Tumor organoids and TILs (and/or peripheral T cells) cultures will be established from fresh tissure of lung cancer and other solid tumors. Coculture will be utilized to screen tumor-responsive T cells which are further selected for monoclonal expansion and TCR cloning for engineered reconstitution of TCR-T cells. After verification by multiple in vitro and in vivo studies, a large number of TCR-T cells will be introduced back into the patients via vein, artery or fine needle punctured to the tumor, or combinations. In this phase I study, the safety, tolerance and preliminary efficacy of the TCR-T cell immunotherapy on human will firstly be assessed.

Despite significant improvement in preterm infant survival, the incidence of bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) in infants born < 28 weeks gestational age (GA) has been relatively stable at ~40%, with 10,000-15,000 new cases estimated annually. Delivery room (DR) management of preterm infants during the initial resuscitation has a significant impact on future development of BPD. Current DR practice as recommended by the Neonatal Resuscitation Program (NRP), focuses on providing positive pressure ventilation (PPV) for intubated infants based on pressure limited ventilation (PLV). But with rapidly changing pulmonary compliance during the early newborn period, PLV may lead to under or over inflation of the lungs and induce significant volutrauma, barotrauma and/or atelectotrauma, all of which are associated in the pathogenesis of BPD. No studies have specifically reported tidal volume (TV) provided in the DR in intubated infants with current PLV practices. Similarly, no study has evaluated the safety and efficacy of volume targeted ventilation (VTV) in the DR and its impact on BPD. With the proposed study, in Phase I, the investigators aim to demonstrate that measuring TV in intubated infants receiving PPV via PLV is feasible. The investigators also seek to demonstrate that with PLV, TV is highly variable in the first few hours of life, even with the same peak inspiratory pressures (PiP) due to rapidly changing pulmonary compliance. A successful Phase I will demonstrate that measuring TV is feasible in the DR, and with information on real time actual TV achieved during PPV, it is possible to target the TV for a goal TV by adjusting the PiP provided. Phase II will be a pilot randomized control trial to demonstrate feasibility of VTV compared to PLV. The investigators will also aim to understand the pulmonary mechanics and physiology during VTV. A successful Phase II will demonstrate VTV is feasible, is associated with stable TV, decreased peak inspiratory pressure and oxygen needs compared to PLV, and not associated with increased complications compared to PLV. It will thereby justify a larger randomized control trial with enough power to evaluate the efficacy of VTV in reducing BPD and other long term pulmonary morbidities for preterm infants.

The proposed study will evaluate the safety and feasibility of neoadjuvant nivolumab +/- ipilimumab in resectable MPM. In addition, maintenance nivolumab will be administered for 1 year following completion of standard bi-/tri-modality therapy.

A single arm, open-label pilot study is designed to determine the safety, tolerability and effectiveness of personalized mRNA tumor vaccine encoding neoantigen in Patients with advanced esophageal cancer and non-small cell lung cancer

A randomized, double-blind, single-center and controlled study comparing the efficacy and safety of intravenous administration of tranexamic acid to reduce blood loss in simultaneous bilateral total knee arthroplasty.