Active clinical trials for "Brain Neoplasms"

This study will examine the use of a variation of standard magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) called diffusion tensor MRI (DT-MRI), in order to evaluate the peripheral white matter infiltration of high grade brain tumors. Organized architecture is destroyed once brain tumor cells are infiltrating surrounding tissue. The infiltrated tissue is then isotropic (or less anisotropic). DT-MRI can assess anisotropy after datasets post treatment. Primary outcome is to find if a correlation exists between GA (generalized anisotropy) and the infiltration percentage of stereotactic peritumoral biopsies.

Phase 3 randomized open labeled trials will evaluate the 3 D navigable ultrasound (SonoWand) in improving the extent of resection in intra-axial brain tumors. All patients will undergo resective surgery. In the experimental arm, a navigable 3 D ultrasound will be used. In the standard arm, only navigation will be used. This study will help in assessing the usefulness sononavigation in improving radicality of resection in malignant gliomas and also to access the accuracy of SonoWand in predicting residue (histopathological correlation).

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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