Active clinical trials for "Brain Neoplasms"

There has been no study comparing the complication rates between internal jugular vein catheterization and subclavian vein catheterization when they are performed using sonographic view. This prospective study would reveal the sort of complication and its rate.

The need for new technologies and devices in the field of neurosurgery is well established. In April 2013, FDA cleared NeuroBlate™ System, minimally invasive robotic laser thermotherapy tool. It employs a pulsed surgical laser to deliver targeted energy to abnormal brain tissue caused by tumors and lesions. This post-marketing, multi-center study will include patients with metastatic tumors who failed stereotactic radiosurgery and are already scheduled for NeuroBlate procedure. The study will collect clinical outcome, Quality of Life (QoL) and, where feasible, healthcare utilization data for publication.

This study will analyze DNA samples to determine associations between maternal and offspring genetic factors and pediatric brain tumor development in children with Neurofibromatosis Type 1. Participating families (mother, father, child) will be asked to complete a short questionnaire and provide DNA samples (either saliva or blood). The information gained from your participation may one day help doctors develop strategies to reduce brain tumor risk in individuals with NF1. Please note: there is no therapy associated with this study.

The NeuroBlate® System (NBS), is a minimally invasive robotic laser thermotherapy tool. It employs a pulsed surgical laser to deliver targeted energy to abnormal brain tissue caused by tumors and lesions. Since receiving FDA clearance in April 2013, the NBS has been used in nearly 300 procedures conducted at approximately 20 leading institutions across the United States. This post-market, multi-center retrospective study is designed to collect long-term follow-up data on patients who were treated previously with NBS.

This study is being conducted to find out whether lacosamide (a drug to treat epilepsy) is effective in routine clinical practice for patients with epilepsy caused by a brain tumor.

The time period from diagnosis through to the end of treatment is challenging for patients. Patients need information, assistance with decision making, and emotional and social support to help cope with their diagnosis and treatment. The first meeting with the cancer doctor is especially anxiety-provoking for patients who will learn, for the first time, their treatment options and likelihood of being cured. This anxiety causes many patients to have difficulty remembering the important pieces of information that their cancer doctor tells them during this consultation. The main goal of this study is to demonstrate the benefits of giving cancer patients an audio-recording of their first consultation with their cancer doctor. The investigators will include newly diagnosed patients from cancer centres in Winnipeg and Calgary. The types of cancer that will be included in this study are brain and neuroendocrine. Patients with these types of cancer are more likely to have confused thinking, and therefore may have the most to gain from receiving their consultation recordings. The study will include 244 patients, and those who sign consent forms to participate will be assigned by chance to either receive their treatment consultation recording or not. Patients will receive their recording immediately after their consultation, and will be able to listen to the recording at any time either alone, or with family and friends. To figure out whether the consultation recording provides patients with benefits, the investigators will administer some questionnaires to patients at 1 week after the consultation, and again at 3 and 6 months after the consultation. These questionnaires will assess the following patient outcomes: i) anxiety and depression, ii) perception of being informed about the disease and treatment, iii) satisfaction with cancer care, iv) satisfaction with the doctor, and v) the extent to which patients are satisfied with their degree of involvement in treatment decision making. The investigators hypothesize that patients who receive their consultation recording will experience more benefits than patients who do not receive their consultation recording.

The central hypothesis for this proposal is that multimodal (clinical, imaging, tissue) biomarkers will better predict early brain tumor response to treatments and will be more reliable prognostic markers in patients with malignant brain tumors.

This goal of this research study is to learn more about fatigue, sleep quality, and other symptoms in patients with primary brain tumors who are being treated with radiation therapy. Objectives: PRIMARY OBJECTIVE: 1. The primary objective of this study is to provide preliminary data describing the severity and change over time in fatigue using the Brief Fatigue Inventory (BFI) during radiation therapy for patients with primary gliomas. SECONDARY OBJECTIVES: To evaluate longitudinal changes in the severity of symptoms and the mean symptom burden as measured by the M.D. Anderson Symptom Inventory-Brain Tumor Module (MDASI-BT) and mood using the Profile of Mood States (POMS) during radiation therapy. To assess alterations in circadian rhythms using actigraphy during radiation therapy and the association with sleep quality tools - Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) and the Epworth Sleepiness Scale(ESS), and the severity of BFI and MDASI-BT scores over time. To explore the association between the levels of salivary hormones (melatonin and cortisol) and the occurrence of fatigue and symptom burden.

The purpose of this study is to use an imaging method called functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) in patients who have a tumor near an area of the brain that is believed to control language. The fMRI is a new kind of imaging that uses a strong magnetic field to look at functioning brain tissue. This kind of imaging will be used to study the effect of the brain tumor on your speech.

Positron emission tomography (PET) is a nuclear medicine procedure based on the measurement of positron emission from radiolabelled tracer molecules. These radiotracers allow biologic processes to be measured and whole body images to be obtained which demonstrates sites of radiotracer accumulation. The most common radiotracer in use today is 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose (18F-FDG) which is a radiolabelled sugar (glucose) molecule. Imaging with 18F-FDG PET is used to determine sites of abnormal glucose metabolism and can be used to characterize and localize many types of tumours. Cancer treatment and outcome depend largely on the accurate diagnosis and staging of disease. There is extensive data in the literature indicating the importance of FDG-PET imaging in accurately characterizing disease, as well as determining stage and sites of recurrent disease in many cancer types. For these indications, functional imaging with PET provides unique information which is not available from standard medical imaging modalities such as ultrasound, X-ray, computerized tomography (CT) or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). The objectives of this study are to document the safety and efficacy of 18F-FDG produced by the British Columbia Cancer Agency (BCCA) at its Tri-University Meson Facility (TRIUMF) production facility and to evaluate FDG-PET as a diagnostic and decision making tool in the management of oncology patients in British Columbia. With a population base of over 4 million people, standardized cancer treatment protocols, and evidence based guidelines for FDG-PET imaging, the BCCA is positioned to make an important contribution to defining the role of PET in the Canadian health care system.