Active clinical trials for "Breast Neoplasms"

RATIONALE: Gathering information about strength and range of motion over time from women undergoing surgery for breast cancer may help doctors learn more about recovery from surgery and on-going care. PURPOSE: This clinical trial is collecting information about strength and range of motion over time from women undergoing surgery for breast cancer.

The use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) in the United States has increased dramatically in the past 10 years. Nowhere is this trend more apparent than when one examines CAM use by patients diagnosed with cancer. As with the general population, patients with cancer typically use CAM-based modalities alongside their conventional cancer treatments. Patients are often seeking a holistic approach to managing and preventing disease. Although most patients will combine alternative approaches with conventional medicine, some patients do in fact decline curative conventional treatments in favor of more non-toxic alternative approaches. One such approach that patients combine with conventional medicine or use in place of conventional medicine is qigong. Qigong is a bioenergy therapy with a long history of therapeutic use for many diseases, including cancer. Preliminary experiments and a review of the literature show that qigong might improve the outcome for cancer patients. However, none of this research has been confirmed in the peer-reviewed Western scientific literature. Although it is unlikely that EQT will result in significant decreases in tumor size, patients are using qigong either as a complementary approach, and sometimes even in place of conventional medicine, it is, therefore, important for us to determine whether there is any merit to this treatment modality. The goal of this pilot trial is to examine one form of medical qigong (external qi therapy (EQT)) to determine feasibility. In an exploratory nature we will also examine any changes in tumor size in women with breast cancer who are awaiting surgery.

Lifestyle behaviors among women with a family history of breast cancer are likely to be influenced by a number of factors, including both objective risk factors and subjective risk, or perceived risk. The aims of this mixed method study are twofold and will be explored through both quantitative (i.e. secondary survey data) and qualitative data (i.e. personal in-depth interviews) derived from the Sister Study, a large epidemiologic study being conducted through the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, which is addressing risk factors for breast cancer in sisters of women who have had breast cancer. The quantitative aims include an exploration of lifestyle behaviors and behavioral differences between White and African American women, as well as well as an exploration of the relationships between lifestyle behaviors (i.e. varying levels of objective risk based on Gail model risk scores, medical risk-reducing factors (i.e. use of Tamoxifen or Raloxifene and/or prophylactic surgery), as well as additional factors that may be contributors to perceived risk. This aim will be addressed using data that have already been collected as part of the baseline activities for the Sister Study. The primary qualitative aim is to gain a better understanding about perceived risk and the relationship between perceived risk and lifestyle behaviors in both White and African American women with a family history of breast cancer. This aim requires the collection of new data through in-person interviews with between 28 and 40 women, depending on how many interviews are required to achieve "data saturation." The mixed method approach will be based on a "complementarity" model, which emphasizes the use of two different methods to address different aspects of the research problem. Results from both methods will become integrated into the discussion of the findings and it is expected that this approach will enrich the study and allow for elaboration of the quantitative results. The secondary data analysis will be derived from approximately 10,000 women, initially enrolled in the Sister Study, who are between the ages of 35 and 74 and have had at least one sister affected by breast cancer. Women for the qualitative interviews will be recruited from a cohort of Sister Study participants residing within North Carolina and will include equal numbers of both White and African American women. It is expected that 28 women will be needed for qualitative data saturati...

This study will collect information on the height and weight of women who participated in a 1998 study in Triana, Alabama, on the risk of breast cancer and benign breast disease in relation to environmental exposure to the pesticide DDT and similar chemicals. This additional information is needed to calculate the participants' body mass index (BMI), which is required for completing analysis of the data. The 1998 study-a collaborative effort of the National Cancer Institute, the Triana Area Medical Fund, and the College of Nursing at the University of Alabama at Huntsville-investigated possible effects of DDT and other compounds on the risk of breast cancer, predominantly among African-American women in the area of Triana, Alabama. The study was initiated as a result of medical findings showing high blood levels of DDT among the local population who had consumed fish from a tributary of the Tennessee River that had been polluted by the discharge over several decades of large quantities of pesticides from a DDT production plant. Women participating in the study had a mammogram, physical examination, breast examination, and blood draw, and completed a questionnaire on diet and lifestyle factors. In order to complete analysis of the data and determine whether there is an association between environmental exposure to DDT and related chemicals and breast cancer risk, additional information on BMI is required.

The purpose of this study to see what happens to breast density in healthy postmenopausal women after treatment with letrozole in one year, compared with treatment with placebo for one year. Other goals of the study include determining if there is a connection between estrogen level and breast density for women in the study and collecting information about the quality of life of those taking part in the study.

RATIONALE: New imaging procedures, such as enhanced ultrasound may improve the ability to determine the extent of breast cancer. PURPOSE: Diagnostic study of enhanced ultrasound in women who have locally advanced primary breast cancer.

RATIONALE: Chemoprevention therapy is the use of certain drugs to try to prevent the recurrence of cancer. The use of perillyl alcohol may be effective in preventing the recurrence of breast cancer. PURPOSE: Phase I trial to study the effectiveness of perillyl alcohol in preventing the recurrence of breast cancer in women who have been treated with surgery with or without adjuvant therapy.

This study will examine how the body handles etoposide, a drug used to treat breast cancer. The knowledge gained may lead to more effective use of the drug with fewer side effects in the future. Breast cancer patients who are receiving etoposide as part of their treatment may participate in this study. Patients will have 18 blood samples (about a teaspoon or less each) drawn over a 72-hour period during and after their infusion of etoposide. The initial blood samples cannot be taken from the same intravenous line (small tube placed in a vein) used to deliver the etoposide, so a second line may have to be placed temporarily to obtain these samples.

The objective of our study was to evaluate the expected cardioprotective effects of ketotifen due to its activity as an iron-chelating agent previously uncovered by us in the in vitro chemical test which included in the study, when used in patients receiving anthracyclines for the treatment of breast cancer. The study was a randomized : , prospective controlled trial : , and the patients were identified by coded numbers to maintain privacy. Eligible patients (111) fulfilled the criteria. Control Group: 55 patients received their standard therapy (anthracycline-containing chemotherapy without ketotifen). Ketotifen Group: 56 patients received anthracycline-containing chemotherapy plus ketotifen as a cardioprotective agent. Ketotifen will be given orally as one tablet (1 mg/tablet) 3 times daily, before and during the chemotherapeutic cycle for 6 cycles of treatment. Blood samples were obtained from all patients, and echocardiography two times for each patient at baseline and after 6 months (EF%).

Chatbots (contraction of "chat" and "robot") are a computer software program that use statistical learning and aim to simulate a conversation by text or voice message. The use of these chatbots was evaluated as part of the increase in therapeutic adherence and information on well-being and mental health. In clinical studies, chatbots are useful in gathering information through questionnaires directly submitted during conversations or through keyword analyzes. There is no longer any delay between the moment the patient notices a side effect, for example, and the moment when the patient announces it during a consultation. The responses given by the chatbot do not constitute medical advice and only provide information on the treatments envisaged or in progress in the context of the management of breast cancer. The main objective of the study is to show that the chatbot Vik's answers to the common questions asked by breast cancer patients about their therapeutic management are at least as satisfactory as answers given by a committee of multidisciplinary doctors