Active clinical trials for "Brain Neoplasms"

The purpose of this Phase 1/2, open-label, single-arm study is to determine the safety and the maximal tolerated dose (MTD) of VAL-083 in patients with recurrent malignant glioma. Pharmacokinetic (PK) properties will be explored and tumor responses to treatment will be evaluated.

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the potential of [18F]-ML-10 to serve as a non-invasive imaging tool for the early detection of apoptosis in brain metastases in response to radiation therapy, in patients subjected to stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS). Such early detection may improve clinical management of patients with brain metastases, as it may help early identification of non-responders, and subsequently potentially lead to optimization of radiation techniques such as the need for whole brain radiation therapy (WBRT), addition of brain penetrating chemotherapy or an early decision on referral of the patient with non-responsive lesions to surgery or to systemic chemotherapy. The experimental design of the present study aims to evaluate the potential of non-invasive PET examination with [18F]-ML-10, to provide the clinician with an assessment of response early in the course of treatment, via non-invasive molecular imaging of radiation-induced apoptosis. This information on tumor responsiveness is currently available only several weeks to months after completion of radiotherapy.

The study implies a 2 step study design. Patients are enrolled into 3 separate groups for melanoma, breast, and non-small cell lung cancer. In the first step, 21 patients per disease group are enrolled. If >=2 objective responses (SD, PR, or CR) out of 21 evaluable patients are observed, enrollment continues for other 45 patients as a whole, where response will be positively evaluated if >=10 patients will respond. If <2 objective responses out of 21 evaluable patients per disease group are observed, this(ese) group(s) will no longer be treated with temozolomide.

RATIONALE: Specialized radiation therapy, such as proton beam radiation therapy, that delivers a high dose of radiation directly to the tumor may kill more tumor cells and cause less damage to normal tissue. PURPOSE: This phase I/II trial is studying the best way to give proton beam radiation therapy and to see how well it works in treating patients with low grade gliomas.

This protocol describes a study to gain experience in the use of Clevidipine for perioperative blood pressure control in patients undergoing craniotomy for brain tumor or epilepsy focus resection. The purpose of this study is to establish the efficacy of Clevidipine for intraoperative blood pressure control in patients undergoing intracranial procedures, and gather information on the dosage and adverse effects of Clevidipine in neurosurgical patients. This initial pilot experience serves to familiarize the investigators with the use of this drug prior to initiating a planned randomized trial versus institutional standard-of-care therapy. The investigators will obtain greater familiarity with the dosing of clevidipine in this patient population and collect information on the incidence of adverse effects.

The Radiotracer 18F-FLT can non-invasively assess excessive cell growth in PET scan images. Tumour growth rate is a useful indicator of tumour aggression and response to treatment. Imaging and measuring the cell growth with 18F-FLT may be useful in monitoring response to anticancer treatment.

The purpose of this study is to estimate the rate of local control at the treated site of the metastasis as a function of 1mm versus 3mm expansion about the gross tumor volume (GTV). Each lesion, not each patient will be ranndomized to either the 1mm or 3mm margin with 40 lesions randomized to each arm.

Brain tumours often have low oxygen levels, and that makes them more resistant to radiation therapy. If patients breathe the right mixture of oxygen during treatment, radiation may work better. In this study, patients with brain tumour will undergo a special MRI test while they breathe different mixtures of oxygen and carbon dioxide to find out whether oxygen levels improve in the tumor. Patients will also be asked to repeat this MRI test during the second week of radiation therapy, as well as 3 months, 6 months and 1 year after RT. The MRI test after RT will help us understand how the blood vessels in the normal brain are affected by radiation.

Fractionated stereotactic radiotherapy (SRT) requires extremely precise and reproducible immobilization of the patient's head. This randomized study compares the efficacy of two commonly used forms of immobilization used for SRT.

RATIONALE: Drugs used in chemotherapy, such as Gliadel wafer and O6-benzylguanine, work in different ways to stop the growth of tumor cells, either by killing the cells or by stopping them from dividing. Giving more than one drug (combination chemotherapy) may kill more tumor cells. PURPOSE: This phase II trial is studying how well giving Gliadel wafer together with O6-benzylguanine works in treating patients with recurrent glioblastoma multiforme.