Active clinical trials for "Brain Neoplasms"

During a brain surgery targeted to remove a brain tumor, the neurosurgeon wakes up the patient to delimit the tumor area exactly, and identify the surrounding areas, to limit the surgery damages. The present project aims at testing the patient in this awake phase to determine the brain areas implied in time to contact (TTC) perception, a function that allows determining the arrival time of moving objects and used in many tasks of our daily life.

Predicting the survival of patients diagnosed with glioblastoma (GBM) is essential to guide surgical strategy and subsequent adjuvant therapies. Intraoperative ultrasound (ioUS) is a low-cost, versatile technique available in most neurosurgical departments. The images from ioUS contain biological information possibly correlated to the tumor's behavior, aggressiveness, and oncological outcomes. Today's advanced image processing techniques require a large amount of data. Therefore, the investigators propose creating an international database aimed to share intraoperative ultrasound images of brain tumors. The acquired data must be processed to extract radiomic or texture characteristics from ioUS images. The rationale is that ultrasound images contain much more information than the human eye can process. Our main objective is to find a relationship between these imaging characteristics and overall survival (OS) in GBM. The predictive models elaborated from this imaging technique will complement those already based on other sources such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), genetic and molecular analysis, etc. Predicting survival using an intraoperative imaging technique affordable for most hospitals would greatly benefit the patients' management.

Although many children with brain tumours are successfully cured of their disease, a substantial proportion of patients suffer disease recurrence and require further treatment. This therapy may involve a repeat course of radiation (RT2). Based on retrospective data, re-irradiation may provide palliative and even potentially curative benefit. However, such retrospective data are subject to bias, which may over-report survival and under-report toxicity. Furthermore, we do not know how re-irradiation affects patients' HRQOL. The goal of this research is to prospectively describe the HRQOL of patients diagnosed with DIPG and recurrent brain tumors and their families before and after re-irradiation to more accurately assess the benefit versus the toxicity of this treatment. In addition, if we are able to demonstrate the feasibility of collecting HRQOL information on a routine basis we will be able to justify the need to conduct this research further and implement HRQOL screening as a standard of care for these patients. Re-irradiation for children with DIPG and recurrent brain tumours will not cure these children from their disease but may improve neurological function and wellbeing. We postulate that the opportunity of more time to say the final good bye and creating memories will facilitate bereavement and prevent psychological dysfunction of parents and siblings. A greater understanding of what helps these families may enable clinicians to better support these children and their families in this difficult disease course. Ultimately our goal is to improve the psychological experience of these patients and their families.

Patient education plays an essential role in patient-centered care as it enhances patient satisfaction and information comprehension. However, about 40-80% of the information patients receive from healthcare professionals is forgotten and about half of the information patients remember is incorrect. To give informed consent, patients must be able to understand and recall the discussed information correctly. This is especially important in brain tumor patients, in which different treatment options determine outcome and risks. The goal of treatment in brain tumors is resection as completely as possible, without damaging healthy brain tissue. To this end, patients must understand the complex relation of the tumor to healthy brain tissue. This relation is different in each patient and three-dimensional (3D) in nature. Current two-dimensional visual tools lack the ability to properly display these complex 3D relations. In this study, we will investigate the effect of the use of 3D models in patient education, taking into account patient specific factors that might act as confounders. We will conduct a case control, multi-center study in the Radboud University Medical Center (Radboudumc) Maastricht University Medical Center (MUMC). Patients will be enrolled in the control group until inclusion for the control group is completed (n=30), after which patients will be enrolled in the intervention group (n=30). Patients will be cognitively tested using the Amsterdam Cognition Scale (ACS). After the consultation with their neurosurgeon, patients will be asked to fill out two questionnaires, consisting of two parts (patient experiences and information recall), one week apart.

The incidence of brain metastases is expected to increase because of better treatments of primary tumours. Novel diagnostic and therapeutic techniques are continuously being developed, all of which need thorough evaluation before they can be implemented in clinical routine. Randomized Controlled Trials are the gold standard to do so, but they have shown many challenges, especially when applied in a cancer setting. .The 'cohort multiple Randomized Controlled Trial (cmRCT)' design is a promising design for multiple (simultaneous) randomized evaluations of experimental interventions, with potential for increased recruitment, comparability and long-term outcomes as a standard. This design will speed up the process of translating treatment innovations to the daily clinic.

The objectives of this registry study are to evaluate real-world clinical outcomes and patient reported outcomes that measure the effectiveness and safety of STaRT.

The purpose of the study is to determine if family caregivers of neuro-oncology patients feel less burdened by utilizing the Electronic Social Network Assessment Program (eSNAP) + the Caregiver Navigator.

Aim: Investigate whether patients undergoing specialist rehabilitation after complex neurological injury show different functional outcomes if music therapy is included in their rehabilitation program compared to usual care. Background: Patients with complex needs following a brain, spinal cord, and/or peripheral nerve injury often require a period of specialist neurorehabilitation. This involves multiple therapy disciplines, led by a Consultant in Rehabilitation Medicine, Neurology, or Neuropsychiatry. Although music therapy is suggested to enhance neuroplasticity and recovery in patients with brain injury, it is not routinely commissioned in clinical care due to a lack of supportive evidence. Hypothesis: Patients undergoing music therapy in addition to complex specialist rehabilitation show better functional outcomes compared to usual care. Number of participants: 75, aged 16-80 years. Methods: Patients undergo baseline assessments and are randomised to MUSIC or CONTROL Therapy. Both arms receive 1-3 additional therapy sessions per week, matched for duration and number, total 15 hours. After approximately 10-weeks intervention, assessments are repeated. All participants then have access to music therapy until they are discharged from Neurorehabilitation Unit (NRU), with additional qualitative data collection using semi-structured interviews, field notes, staff reports, staff stress surveys, and broader ecological observations. Duration for Participants: From consent to discharge from NRU. Primary Outcome: Change in Functional Independence Measure+Functional Assessment Measure (FIM+FAM), Northwick Park Dependency Scale (NWPDS), and Barthel Activities of Daily Living pre and post 15 hours intervention. Secondary Outcome: Change in quality of life (Flourishing Scale), psychological distress (Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, Depression Intensity Scale Circles), social interaction (Sickness Impact Profile Social Interaction Subscale), well-being (WHO Well-Being Index), and communication (Communication Outcomes After Stroke Scale), pre and post 15 hours intervention. Mean difference in well-being (WHO Well-Being Index) throughout the intervention period between music therapy and control therapy groups. Mean difference in post-intervention pain and mood visual analogue scores between music therapy and control therapy groups.

Primary malignant central nervous system (CNS) tumors are the second most common childhood malignancies. Amongst, medulloblastomas are the most common malignant brain tumor of childhood and occur primarily in the cerebellum. According to molecular characteristics, medulloblastomas were classified into four subtypes: WNT, SHH, Group3 and Group4 and different prognosis were noticed between subgroups. Several genetic predispositions related to clinical outcome were also discovered and might influence the treatment of medulloblastomas as novel pharmaceutical targets. This study aims to investigate genetic and cellular profiles of pediatric brain malignancies, mostly medulloblastomas, and other central nervous system tumor based on WGS, RNA-seq, single-cell sequencing and spatial transcriptomics. We also aim to investigate the correlation between genetic characteristics and clinical prognosis.

Glioma is a major histological subtype of primary malignant brain tumors in Taiwan, with distinct epidemiological, clinical, and pathological features comparing to the other common cancer diseases. The disease rarely appears with metastatic disease at diagnosis, and with the most malignant subtype, glioblastoma, occurs with preference in mid- to old-age. For decades, primary malignant brain tumors has been known as one of the most desperate disease without successful improvement regarding of the treatment. Surgical resection is the principle for the primary treatment of gliomas. Chemotherapy and radiotherapy are often applied to patients for adjuvant therapy of surgery to pursue the treatment effect. Disappointedly, vast majority of the patients would eventually develop disease recurrence, leaving only limited choice for salvage treatment thereafter. The prognosis of these patients remains desperate, and thus a better understanding of this deadly disease is crucial for finding better therapeutic strategies for these patients.