Active clinical trials for "Brain Neoplasms"

The purpose of this study is to determine normal measurements (ADC values) from the head and neck of healthy volunteers using 3T MRI.

The purpose of this study is to evaluate high and low areas of growth, or proliferation, within the tumor. An imaging technique using a very small amount of a radioactive tracer called 18Ffluoro-deoxy-L-thymidine (18F-FLT) can detect areas of rapid growth within the tumor. This imaging technique is called a FLT PET imaging. This present study involves obtaining one scan using FLT PET imaging. The goal of this study is to investigate associations between the imaging findings showing differences in growth rate within the tumor and the biology of the tumor that is measured in the sampled tumor tissue. This information may be used in future brain tumor patients to determine the best combination of treatment for individual patients. These studies may also improve our understanding of the types of changes taking place in brain tumor tissue that could improve individual patient outcome. FLT is produced for human use by the MSKCC cyclotron facility under an investigational new drug (IND) approval issued by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). This means that FLT is produced under strict rules and regulations, is considered safe, and has been approved for use in humans for certain disease conditions. 18F-FLT has been used in several research studies to date at this institution.

The investigators plan to study high dose, single treatment radiation, using a plastic mask instead of a head frame that pins into a patient's skull. The investigators need to (1) quantify set-up accuracy and patient motion during radiation treatment and (2) ensure that without the head frame the tumour control rate and risk of complications are similar to our previous experience using the head frame.

RATIONALE: Anticonvulsant drugs, such as levetiracetam, may help control seizures caused by brain metastases. PURPOSE: This clinical trial is studying the side effects and how well levetiracetam works in treating patients with seizures caused by brain metastases.

The primary purpose of this study is to determine if it is effective to take samples of fluid from the patient's brain tumor with a microdialysis catheter for Torisel measurement. The investigators are also doing it to learn if it is safe to do so. The investigators will use these samples to measure how much Torisel reaches the patient's brain tumor. The use of the microdialysis catheter to collect brain fluid is an FDA approved method. This catheter is already being used in patients who have sustained severe brain trauma from head injuries. The catheter itself is smaller in size than the standard needle that will be used to take the patient's biopsy. To obtain additional information Torisel will also be measured at the same time in the patient's cerebral spinal fluid by taking it from a catheter placed in the patient's cerebral spinal fluid producing spaces in their brain and in their blood from a catheter in one of their vessels.

Making sure the heart rate and or the blood pressure [called hemodynamic instability] during surgery is stable, setting up for a rapid postoperative recovery, and ensuring that patients have adequate pain relief are some of the important goals of neurosurgical anesthesia. Scalp block anesthesia [injection of a numbing agent into the area of the scalp where the incision will be] together with general anesthesia is used to achieve these goals. There has been some research on whether or not scalp block improves patient recovery and pain management, but the studies have not be large enough to say for certain. This is true even though scalp block is used with almost every patient that is having brain surgery. The investigators propose to determine if scalp block in combination with asleep anesthesia is better than asleep anesthesia alone in patients who are having brain surgery for tumors in the cerebral area of the brain.

Nearly a quarter of a million patients are diagnosed each year with tumors of the central nervous system, a third of them malignant. The most common malignant tumor of the brain is the high grade glioma( HGG), whose treatment begins with surgical resection of the tumor, followed by a combined chemo-radiation regimen, with the drug Temodal (temozolomide). This treatment is often accompanied by toxic effects (e.g., nausea, headache, constipation, weakness/fatigue, and others), with treatment of these effects limited in their effectiveness and safety. Complementary medicine treatments such as acupuncture and touch therapies (reflexology, Shiatsu, etc.) have been researched and found to be both safe and effective for some of the toxic effects of oncology treatment regimens. The present pilot study is set to examine the impact of complementary medicine on the toxic effects of the conventional treatment for HGG. The study will include 40 patients and will last for two years, during which patients will be treated with acupuncture and/or touch therapies, this in parallel to their chemo-radiation regimen. The primary study outcome will be the scores on four Patient-Reported Outcome Measures (PROMs): the Measure Yourself Concerns and Wellbeing (MYCAW) study tool; the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy, Brain Cancer (FACT-Br) questionnaire; the Edmonton Symptom Assessment Scale (ESAS); and the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire (EORTC QLQ-c30). Secondary study outcomes will include the safety of the complementary medicine treatments, and adherence to the planned oncology treatment regimen, as measured by the Relative Dose Intensity (RDI) calculation.

Radio(chemo)therapy is the standard therapy for both, brain tumors and brain metastases. Neurological decline is observed in these patients and tumor progression or radiotherapy side effects have been made responsible for this. However CMV encephalitis may also be a reason. Therefore the investigators aim to analyze the CMV status in patients during and after radio(chemo)therapy. It will be checked by CMV-DNA (PCR analysis) and CMV antibodies (IgG and IgM ELISA) in the blood of the patients. These findings will be correlated with changes in the brain, visualized by MRI. In addition a detailed immunophenotyping in the peripheral blood will be performed.

Through this study, the investigators believe to describe more accurately the damage caused by brain radiation therapy in the long term.

To investigate a computer-based Cognitive Remediation Therapy (CRT) for brain tumor patients at the Massey Cancer Center on measures of cognitive functioning (e.g., working memory, attention, processing speed, language, visuospatial functioning, immediate and delayed memory, or executive functioning) over time.