Active clinical trials for "Brain Neoplasms"

In this dose-escalation study, the safety and tolerability of escalating dose levels of RRx-001 administered intravenously twice a week in subjects with brain metastases receiving whole brain radiation therapy (WBRT) will be assessed. Once a maximum tolerated dose is identified, further (up to approximately 30) participants will be recruited. The study will use MRI to monitor changes in tumor blood flow associated with RRx-001.

This partially randomized phase II trial with a safety run-in component studies the side effects and how well bevacizumab given with or without trebananib works in treating patients with brain tumors that have come back (recurrent). Immunotherapy with monoclonal antibodies, such as bevacizumab, may induce changes in the body's immune system and interfere with the ability of tumor cells to grow and spread. Trebananib may stop the growth of tumor cells by blocking blood flow to the tumor. It is not yet known whether giving bevacizumab together with trebananib is more effective than bevacizumab alone in treating brain tumors.

Malignant gliomas have a very poor prognosis with median survival measured in months rather than years. It is a disease in great need of novel therapeutic approaches. Based on the encouraging results of our preclinical studies which demonstrate improved efficacy without added toxicity, the paradigm of delivering a novel oncolytic adenovirus via a neural stem cell line in combination with radiation and chemotherapy is well-suited for evaluation in newly diagnosed malignant gliomas. The standard-of-care allows application of virotherapy as neoadjuvant therapy and assessment of the cooperative effects with radiation/chemotherapy without altering the standard treatment.

Tools for improving brain tumor surgery, in particular for gliomas, are increasing. There seems to be an agreement that achieving extensive resections, when done safely without jeopardizing neurological function, improves survival. Ultrasound is currently used as a tool for providing 2D or 3D images for tumor localization and resection control. For the use in resection control the resection cavity is filled with saline to provide acoustic coupling between the ultrasound transducer and tissue. However, attenuation of acoustic waves is very low in saline compared to the brain and this difference in attenuation is the cause of artifacts that may severely degrade the ultrasound images. Such artifacts are seen as high-intensity signal at the resection cavity wall and beyond. The artificial signal enhancement can potentially mask small tumor remnants and is generally making the interpretation of images more difficult. This research group has developed an acoustic coupling fluid intended for use in the resection cavity instead of saline. Tests in laboratory measurements have shown that the fluid reduces artifacts and has the potential to enhance ultrasound image quality in brain tumor surgery. Three different concentrations of the acoustic coupling fluid have been tested in a phase 1 study that included 15 patients with glioblastoma. The concentration that provided the optimal ultrasound images, from qualitative and quantitative inspection, is used in the current phase II study. This study is a randomized controlled trial aiming to include 82 patients with glial brain tumours. Its purpose is to test the fluid during surgery of glial brain tumours to further investigate safety and efficacy.

Vitamin D supplementation not only has beneficial effects on morbidity and mortality in critically ill patients but it may also lead to alleviate of seizure, brain edema, infection, pain and some other perioperative complications, possibly in part through an attenuation of the immune response.In this trial patients with brain tumor under craniotomy will receive a single high dose vitamin D compared to control group.

Vitamin D has been shown to impact prognosis in a variety of retrospective and randomized clinical trials within an intensive care unit (ICU) environment. Despite these findings, there have been no studies examining the impact of hypovitaminosis D in specialized neurocritical care units (NCCU). Given the often significant differences in the management of patients in NCCU and more generalized intensive care units there is a need for further inquiries into the impact of low vitamin D levels in this specific environment. This study proposes a randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled, single center evaluation of vitamin D supplementation in the emergent NCCU patient population. The primary outcome will involve length-of-stay for emergent neurocritical care patients. Various secondary outcomes, including in-hospital mortality, ICU length-of-stay, Glasgow Outcome Score on discharge, complications and quality-of-life metrics. Patients will be followed for 6 months post-discharge.

This pilot clinical trial compares gadobutrol with standard of care contrast agents, gadopentetate dimeglumine or gadobenate dimeglumine, before dynamic contrast-enhanced (DCE)-magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in diagnosing patients with multiple sclerosis, grade II-IV glioma, or tumors that have spread to the brain. Gadobutrol is a type of contrast agent that may increase DCE-MRI sensitivity for the detection of tumors or other diseases of the central nervous system. It is not yet known whether gadobutrol is more effective than standard of care contrast agents before DCE-MRI in diagnosing patients with multiple sclerosis, grade II-IV glioma, or tumors that have spread to the brain.

Vitamin D is a hormone mainly synthesized in the skin in the presence of sunlight. Like other hormones, vitamin D plays a role in a wide range of processes in the body. Some studies have shown vitamin D has anti-inflammatory effects in the body by reducing the release of pro-inflammatory cytokines and suppressing T-cell responses. Therefore, vitamin D may be effective on reduce pain by such mechanisms. In this trial patients with brain tumor under craniotomy will receive a single high dose vitamin D compared to the control group.

Cancer patients with brain metastases (BM) have poor prognosis. Current treatments produce limited efficacy. Recent advance in cancer immunotherapy has provided important new means to treat cancer patients at advanced stages. This study is designed to perform a clinical trial to treat advanced caner patients with brain metastases with personalized dendritic cell-based cellular vaccines. The patients will receive vaccines consisting of mRNA tumor antigen pulsed DCs. Immune response to the immunized tumor antigens will be monitored. Safety and efficacy will be observed in this study.

Background: Whole-brain radiotherapy (WBRT) is the standard treatment for multiple brain metastases (BM), in NSCLC patients who are not candidates for treatment with stereotactic radiation body therapy. Hypoxia has been associated with chemo-radioresistance secondary to Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor Receptor (VEGFR) induced by Hypoxia Induced Factor (HIF). Nitroglycerin (NTG) can reduce HIF-1 alfa in tissues, and this may have anti-angiogenic, pro-apoptotic and anti-efflux effects. In this phase II study, we evaluated the effect of transdermal nitroglycerin (TN) on intracranial progression-free survival (ICPFS), objective response rate (ORR) and overall survival (OS) of NSCLC patients with BM. Material and methods: We performed an open-label, phase II clinical trial among ninety-six histologically confirmed NSCLC patients with BM. Patients were randomized 1:1 to receive NTG plus WBRT or WBRT alone. ORR and ICPFS were evaluated by MRI by two independent, blinded radio-oncologists.