Active clinical trials for "Brain Neoplasms"

The aim of the study is to investigate the feasibility of in vivo single volume MR spectroscopy in evaluation of treatment response in patients with brain metastases, using 3T MR instrument. In order to optimize and avoid ineffective treatment of patients with brain metastases, in vivo MR spectroscopy can be an useful tool.

Accurate identification of areas of eloquent brain function is vital to surgical decision making and to preservation of independence as patients with brain tumors who are higher functioning have better survival outcomes. Eloquent brain is defined as a region controlling language, motor, or sensory function such that without its proper input, a person would be left with significant neurologic deficits. Imaging technology has evolved to provide multiple non-invasive modalities for pre-operative testing of eloquent brain function. Studies have shown that these non-invasive mapping modalities provide useful information, however, the information provided inconsistently predicts distribution of eloquent function. Direct electrical stimulation (DES) at surgery allows assessment of eloquent function directly from the brain surface (invasive) and is considered the gold standard in brain mapping. Therefore, in order to determine the true clinical applicability of the non-invasive mapping technologies, this study proposes to assess the predictive value of functional MRI (fMRI) and magnetoencephalography (MEG) for sensorimotor and language functions by comparing results to DES and determine whether fMRI or MEG provides the most consistent and accurate information. The rationale for the proposed research is that understanding the reliability of our current technology will allow us to perform safer surgeries and to preserve neurologic function.

Purpose and Objective: The purpose of this study is to collect data both retrospectively and prospectively, by consent, on subjects seen in the PRTBTC. This information will be useful to the investigators to generate hypotheses for planning further psychosocial and medication intervention studies that will hopefully improve primary brain tumor patients' QOL.

The purpose of this study is to begin to develop a device to stabilize the head during stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS). SRS is a therapy for brain disorders and cancers that uses a precise dose of radiation to treat a disease, and is different from whole brain radiation. This study aims to stabilize patient head motions during radiation therapy through the use of a special experimental head holder. The investigators would like to first see how the experimental device works in whole brain radiation.

This is a single arm, single center study of 15 patients with brain lesions being treated at UNC Hospitals. Subjects will undergo one (1) FLT-PET-MRI scan before their scheduled surgical biopsy of their brain lesion(s).

Normal tissue response is critical for brain radiotherapy, especially for dose escalation which carries with it an increased incidence of radiation-induced brain injury. Although radiation toxicity and limiting dose for anatomically critical structures of the brain have been well studied and documented, little is known for functionally critical brain regions and treatment of cognitive sequelae of cranial radiotherapy is limited. The objective of this clinical protocol is to accumulate preliminary data for future studies aiming to quantify dose response for functionally critical brain regions for brain radiotherapy. We plan to achieve this objective by correlating the radiation-induced complications and radiological changes with the radiation dose to the selected functionally critical brain regions for 25 patients. Each participating patient will receive brain fMRI to identify brain regions for processing visual, working memory and language functions. The image co-registration algorithm developed previously by our group will be used to co-register these regions on the CT scans for radiotherapy treatment planning for radiation dose calculation. Radiation-induced changes in cognitive functions will be evaluated using the modified mini mental status exam (3MS) and fMRI during the routine follow-up. The knowledge derived from this study might significantly improve the quality of life and allow safer dose escalation for patients receiving brain radiotherapy.

Intraoperative Monitoring of Heart rate variability, Blood pressure variability, Baroreceptorsensivity etc.

The aim of this study is to examine the functional recovery results of the Bobath (NDT) approach in patients with primary brain tumors and compare the results with those of stroke patients.

We planned to evaluate the change in tumor dimensions of intraaxial parenchymal tumors after craniotomy by comparing the tumor size on intraoperative ultrasonography (IOUSG) with pre-operative CECT and CEMRI brain.

This study aims to determine the relationship between heart rate variability and intraoperative brain relaxation conditions in patients with brain tumors.