Active clinical trials for "Gastrointestinal Neoplasms"

The research studies patients with advanced gastrointestinal cancer who receive chemotherapy in the medical oncology department of the First Affiliated Hospital of Xian Jiaotong University. All patients receive the nutritional risk assessment by the nutritional support team first, and patients with nutritional risk or malnutrition are randomly assigned to the study group and the control group. The study group receive nutritional intervention from the nutritional support team during the period of chemotherapy, while the control group receive routine nutritional support from their clinicians. In the control group, nurses execute the doctors' advice on nutrition, and the nutrition support team does not actively communicate with doctors about the nutritional risk of patients or interfere with it. The baseline characteristics, chemotherapy efficacy, adverse events and prognosis are collected in both groups. At last, data are analyzed to clarify the nutritional status and related factors of patients with advanced gastrointestinal cancer in our hospital, and most important to explore the effect of nutrition-support-team intervention on nutritional status, chemotherapy tolerance and prognosis of patients with advanced gastrointestinal cancer.

AIM: To evaluate the effectiveness and efficiency of an innovative exercise program (EP) for patients during treatment for gastrointestinal tumors, breast and non small cells lung cancer, in terms of improved quality of life (QOL), fatigue and functional capacity respect the usual standard treatment (ST). DESIGN: Pragmatic randomized clinical trial in two parallel groups: EP and ST. SETTING: 7 Primary Health Centers (PHC) of the redIAPPISCIII, in coordination with oncology services. PARTICIPANTS: 250 patients with the above tumors, locally advanced or with metastatic disease, in adjuvant treatment, with Performance Status(PS) PS1-PS0. INTERVENTION: Both groups received standardized usual care. The EP group will receive, in addition, a nurse supervised exercise program for 2 months in the PHC and a second phase in community facilities during the remaining 10 months. MEASUREMENTS: The primary outcome measure is the change from baseline in the QOL+66 treatment, as measured by the specific questionnaire for patients with cancer EORTC QLQ-C-30 and Short Form(SF-36) overall. Secondary: fatigue (FACIT-F), radiological response, functional capacity (6 minutes walking and cardiopulmonary test), muscle strength and progression-free survival and overall. Predictors and confounders: age, sex, stage and tumor type, histology, treatment. ANALYSIS: We will compare between groups mean changes from baseline measurement of quality of life questionnaire (QOL) and other variables, on an intention to treat basis, using longitudinal mixed-effects models for repeated measures at 2, 6 and 12 months follow-up. Cost / effectiveness and cost / incremental utility associated to the program wil be estimated.

RATIONALE: Screening tests may identify people with cancer who are at high risk of losing weight and help doctors plan better treatment. PURPOSE: This clinical trial is studying how well a new screening tool works in predicting weight loss in patients with cancer.

This prospective study evaluates celiac plexus radiosurgery for pain control in patients with upper abdominal malignancies.

The COMplementary hand-foot Massage to Improve experience of ilneSs trial (COMMIS trial) is a prospective, randomized trial and executed at a Western referral Centre: Zuyderland Medical Centre located Sittard-Geleen, The Netherlands concerning patients who underwent surgery for gastrointestinal malignancy. During 5 consecutive days, the intervention group received postoperatively hand-foot massage administered by trained volunteers. The aim of this study is to investigate the effect of complementary therapies concerning quality of life, pain, nausea, fatigue, sleeping problems, mood and stress in patients who underwent an operation as a result of gastrointestinal malignancy (stomach or colorectal).

Cancer of the gullet (oesophagus) is a lethal disease in which only 15% of patients survive 5 years once diagnosed. It is more common in men than women, and men appear to have a worse prognosis. One suggestion for this gender difference is the sex hormone oestrogen, which exerts its effect via oestrogen receptors. The role of oestrogen in breast cancer is well described, and antioestrogen medication such as tamoxifen, which blocks oestrogen receptors are in widespread and effective use. The role of oestrogen receptors in oesophageal cancer however, is less well defined. Work conducted by the investigators, as well as another research group in Australia showed that antioestrogens including tamoxifen, reduce oesophageal cancer cell growth in the laboratory. To date, no studies have assessed the effect of tamoxifen therapy on oesophageal cancer growth in humans. The investigators propose a study to determine the effect of tamoxifen in patients with oesophageal cancer who aren't undergoing surgery or chemotherapy. Patients will receive tamoxifen tablets daily for 4 weeks after which time a biopsy (sample of cancer tissue) will be taken at gastroscopy (a flexible camera that is passed into the mouth through the gullet into the stomach). The biopsy will be compared with the biopsy taken at the time of diagnosis to determine if tamoxifen has had any effect on cancer cell growth. If this study shows that tamoxifen does slow cancer cell growth it could lead to a larger study of patients with oesophageal cancer taking tamoxifen for a longer time period to determine if there is any clinical benefit.

The goal of this study is to learn if electro-acupuncture is a feasible treatment option for postoperative ileus after abdominal surgery. The second goal of this study is to evaluate the time to resolution of postoperative ileus after receiving electro-acupuncture treatments.

The purpose of this study is to determine the genetic makeup of gastro intestinal stomach tumors (GISTs) from patients enrolled in the A6181112 phase IIIb trial. Tumor samples will be screened for mutations and this information will be used to determine whether the progression-free survival of patients being treated with the cancer medication sunitinib is related to the underlying genotype of their GIST.

The primary aim of this study is to collect clinical data on the performance of MonoPlus® suture applied in routine clinical practice. Diverse parameters are to be used to assess the safety and efficacy of MonoPlus® suture for gastrointestinal anastomosis construction. This study has been designed to implement an action within the framework of a proactive Post Market Clinical Follow up (PMCF) activity.

Background: The ASSIST tool is a graphical tool to represent and evaluate the applicability of a surgery trial to improve the translation of research to practice. Objective: To evaluate the impact of the ASSIST tool on the interpretation of the applicability of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) in the field of digestive cancer surgery. Design: This study is a randomized controlled trial with two parallel arms. Participants: Surgeons who contribute to the assessment of manuscripts as experts (peer-reviewer) for international scientific journals of surgery (Annals of Surgery, Archives of Surgery, Gastrointestinal Surgery World Journal of International Journal of Surgical Oncology). Intervention: Surgeons will be randomized into 2 groups. A group that will evaluate a case vignette (synopsis) of a randomized trial in surgery, and the other group that will evaluate the same case vignette with the representation of the external validity of the trial with ASSIST tool. Outcome measures: Participants will indicate on a numeric scale range from 1 to 10 if they feel able to judge the applicability of the trial for 1) patients, 2) centers, 3) surgeons and 4) intervention. Sample Size: 28 case vignettes with randomized trials and their ASSIST tool have been developed and evaluated. The inclusion of 130 participants (65 per arm) is required.