Active clinical trials for "Head and Neck Neoplasms"

Surgical reconstruction of anatomical structures after head and neck cancer resection has made enormous strides in the past 20 years with advancing flap techniques and the usage of perforating vessels, but accurate and consistent identification of these perforators has remained a challenge due to the varying anatomy of vasculature in the donor region. Computed tomography angiography (CTA) has been used increasingly in preoperative free flap perforator mapping for breast reconstruction but has been limited in head and neck applications. In addition, indocyanine green (ICG) assisted NIR fluorescence angiography has been developed for intra-operative flap assessment. In this study, the investigators propose to assess a previously undocumented, multi-modal imaging technique with preoperative dual energy CTA to design and intraoperative ICG assisted NIR angiography to assess free flap in head and neck reconstruction.

The purpose of this study is to determine if the addition of proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) to standard chemotherapy can improve progression free survival in patients with head and neck cancer.

For patients undergoing treatment for head and neck cancer, this study will use dynamic contrast-enhanced CT scans to try to determine which lymph nodes in the neck contain cancer and require surgical removal.

This is a study for patients with head and neck cancer who will be receiving chemotherapy and radiation therapy for their disease. The purpose of this study is to see if the investigators can use genetic differences between patients to select the right drug to use with radiation therapy. This type of genetic testing is called pharmacogenetics. Currently there are two drugs used to treat head and neck cancer that have provided a benefit when given with radiation compared to radiation alone in previous studies. These two drugs are cisplatin and cetuximab (Erbitux). In this trial, the investigators will test whether genetic differences between patients can be used to pick which drug they should receive. A recent study that looked back to see how well patients with head and neck cancer responded to treatment with cisplatin showed that genetic differences in a few genes were associated with who did and who did not survive their cancer. The investigators are taking that finding and using it to test patients for these genetic differences to determine whether they should receive cisplatin or cetuximab. In other words, the investigators are trying to take what is essentially a flip of the coin choice between these two drugs, and instead use individual patient's genetic differences to make-and hopefully improve- this choice.

Treatment for head and neck cancer often involves a combination of chemotherapy and radiation. One of the unfortunate consequences of standard care for head and neck cancer is the development of painful mouth sores, known as oral mucositis. This study will evaluate the use of cobiprostone spray to prevent oral mucositis, when given for the duration of radiation and chemotherapy (RT/CT) standard care.

Retrospective multicentre observational cohort study with optional exploratory radiomic study (international) and molecular analysis studies (UK only).

To determine if a new optical system that can track a patient's movement during treatment can be used to measure motion and allow for motion adjustments in order to decrease the amount of healthy tissue that receives radiation without limiting our ability to cure cancers using radiation.

The aim of this study is to look at whether an Artificial Intelligence (AI) based computer program can automate two components of the radiotherapy treatment pathway to a sufficient quality standard to enable its routine clinical use. The two components include the delineation (outlining) of anatomical areas that are at risk of tumour spread and at risk of radiation damage, and the definition of the position, size and shape of the radiation beams. The AI-based computer programs have been developed to perform tasks that would normally require direct human involvement by oncologists and medical physicists. Proposed advantages include improved treatment accuracy, as well as a reduction in the time (from weeks to minutes) and human resources needed to deliver radiotherapy, which this study will test.

Surgical resection is the only option for cure for patients with a resectable tumor located at the head of the pancreas. At the time of diagnosis, these patients often suffer from jaundice. Studies have suggested, that jaundice might increase the risk of developing a serious postoperative complication. Preoperative biliary drainage is widely used, because it is considered to improve the surgical outcome and reduce the amount of postoperative complications. There are also studies that suggest the opposite. In these studies the overall complication rate with patients who underwent preoperative biliary drainage was higher than in the patients who were operated right away. A significant amount of these complications were related to the biliary drainage process itself. However, preoperative biliary decompression is widely used in many centers as many surgical centers don't possess the needed resources to arrange early surgery. The benefits and risks of this procedure remain unclear. This multicenter trial aims to compare the surgical outcome and the rate of serious complications in patients who proceed directly to early surgery and patients who have preoperative biliary drainage.

Cancer is the commonest cause of death in the UK, and a national and international healthcare priority. Survival in the UK is relatively poor vs. European comparators1, meaning early tumour detection and accurate clinical assessment is particularly important to improve outcomes. Treatment fundamentally depends on tumour staging, both of the local cancer and of draining lymph nodes (LN), as well as distant spread of disease i.e. TNM stage (tumour (T), node (N) and metastases (M). However, current non-invasive pre-operative imaging technologies of ultrasound (US), computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) are limited in sensitivity and specificity for nodal assessment, either missing disease or subjecting patients to unnecessary additional invasive biopsies or surgery. A simple, rapid, non-invasive tool to assess primary tumours and LN involvement would be of great clinical value. One candidate technology is photoacoustic tomography (PAT), a relatively novel modality that combines exquisite spatial resolution with the ability to image multiple biological tissues, including blood, water and lipid. To date, PAT has been most successful in imaging the vasculature, which is of particular interest for oncological imaging because one of the key hallmarks of cancer is the development of new, abnormal blood vessels (neoangiogenesis). The high sensitivity for superficial imaging with PAT means that head and neck tumours and neck LN are readily amenable for assessment. In this cohort of patients, those with oral cavity tumours, in particular tumours arising from the lining of the tongue, would be readily accessible for direct scanning.