Active clinical trials for "Neoplastic Cells, Circulating"

Background: Retrospective studies and meta-analyses have shown a reduction in 5-year survival following inhalational based compared to propofol based total intravenous (TIVA) anaesthesia for cancer surgery. To date there have been no prospective trials published which evaluate the effect of anaesthetic technique on circulating tumour cells (CTC), oxidative stress, and recurrence rate following cancer surgery. Children with cancer often require surgery for tumour excision as well as for other diagnostic and therapeutic procedures. To date there has been no prospective randomized controlled trial evaluating the optimal anaesthetic technique for surgery on children with cancer. Aim: This is a pilot study in paediatric patients who require surgery for tumour excision. The aim is to investigate the effect of sevoflurane inhalational versus propofol intravenous anaesthesia on expression of hypoxia-inducible factor 1 (HIF-1), circulating tumour cells, DNA damage and biomarkers of immunity and inflammation in patients before and after tumour surgery. The patients will be followed up for up to 5 years for tumour recurrence after surgery. Method: This will be a single-blinded randomized controlled trial. One hundred children undergoing tumour excision surgery at the Hong Kong Children's Hospital will be recruited and randomized to receive TIVA or inhalational anaesthesia. Baseline, intraoperative and postoperative blood will be taken for tests of immunity and inflammatory markers, DNA damage and circulating tumour cells. Patients would be followed up to 3 years for tumour recurrence and survival.

The goal of this clinical trial is to compare in resectable colorectal cancer liver metastasis patients.The main question it aims to answer is whether the 3-year progression-free survival rate (PFS) of "watching and waiting" is non-inferior to adjuvant chemotherapy in postoperative ctDNA-negative resectable colorectal cancer liver metastasis patients.Participants will undergo ctDNA testing after resection of colorectal cancer liver metastasis, and will be randomly assigned to receive adjuvant chemotherapy or "watching and waiting" treatment strategy. The researchers will compare the outcomes between the two groups to see if the PFS between the two groups is similar.

The purpose of the study is to evaluate the impact on progression-free survival (PFS) with the combination carboplatin - pembrolizumab in patients with CTC (circulating tumor cells) positive, HER2 negative metastatic breast cancer previously treated with anthracyclines and taxanes. Previous studies have indicated that recurrent breast cancers are more resistant to chemotherapy and maybe associated with a weak immune system. This study is investigating the use of an immune therapy drug, pembrolizumab, that has the ability to restore the capacity of controlling and killing cancer cells of an important component of your immune system called T-cells. Pembrolizumab has been found effective in other types of cancer and has already been approved by FDA for those indications, but the efficacy in breast cancer is still unknown. In this study, pembrolizumab will be combined with chemotherapy to increase the cancer cell killing. There is no control or placebo treatment in this study.

To compare the effects of three types of perioperative analgesia on the number of circulating tumor cells following radical colorectal cancer surgery. To find correlations with other perioperative factors and clinical/pathological disease characteristics.

The goal of this clinical trial is to compare in resectable liver metastases colorectal cancer patients.The main question it aims to answer is to investigate whether the progression-free survival (PFS) of resectable colorectal liver metastasis (CRLM) patients with positive ctDNA after surgery is superior with the combination of adjuvant chemotherapy and maintenance therapy compared to adjuvant chemotherapy alone.

Transurethral resection of bladder tumor (TURBT) is usually performed in a piecemeal technique. Tumor fragmentation and cell spilling could be responsible for high recurrence rates. Circulating tumor cells (CTCs) have been shown to be a prognostic predictor in disease progression in transitional cell carcinoma. In the current study the investigators aim to quantify CTCs in purging fluid and blood for recurrent intermediate risk bladder cancer during surgery for two different methods: TURBT and Plasma-kinetic vaporization of bladder tumor (PKVBT). Also correlations for recurrence will be investigated for the two different surgical methods.

To compare the effects of three types of perioperative analgesia on the number of circulating tumor cells following radical colorectal cancer surgery. To find correlations with other perioperative factors and clinical/pathological disease characteristics.

Phase II unicentric randomized trial which will include early HER2 positive breast cancer patients, candidate to neoadjuvant therapy with trastuzumab and pertuzumab. Circulating tumor cells will be collected at neoadjuvant therapy baseline. Patients with pathological complete response will be randomized in 1:1 ratio for adjuvant trastuzumab (arm A) versus trastuzumab + pertuzumab (arm B) in a two factorial design: group A, with HER2 positive CTCs and group B, with HER2 negative/absent CTCs.

The primary focus in this study is to investigate and improve the surgical technique. In addition the collection of clinical data during diagnostic and follow up and the collection of tumor and blood gives us the opportunity to investigate tumor biology and its relevance in terms of determine appropriate treatment strategy both surgically and oncological and to assess and predict treatment outcome. The aim of this study is to compare short and long-term outcomes between open D3 and laparoscopic CME (complete mesocolic excision) with CVL (central vascular ligation) right colectomy for right-sided colon cancer. Our primary hypothesis is that laparoscopic surgery improves quality of life by reducing pain, postoperative complications and thereby reduces hospital stay and convalescence. On the other hand it is to prove non-inferiority of the laparoscopic group compared to the open group by means of oncological outcome (survival, recurrence). Secondary aim is to evaluate surgical quality by comparing actual vascular stump length between the two groups by postoperative CT and compare number of lymph nodes removed with the specimen. With the use of liquid biopsy we want to detect circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) and circulating tumor cells (CTCs) and evaluate their value as tumor markers by comparing the prognostic and predictive value. The hypothesis is that ctDNA and CTCs are more sensitive than standard parameters and imaging (CT CEA).

The discovery of cell-free circulating tumor DNA (crDNA) in blood and the maturation of technologies for ctDNA analysis have presented an attractive opportunity for minimally invasive "liquid biopsy" genomic diagnostics. The investigators plan to perform EUS-guided portal vein and hepatic vein aspiration in GI cancers patients. The aim of the current study is thus to examine the concentration of ctDNA in portal vein (EUS-guided PVA), hepatic vein (EUS-guided HVA) and peripheral blood to understand the first pass effect of the liver with gastrointestinal (GI) cancers, and the possibility of using ctDNA as a marker for preoperative staging, restaging after neoadjuvant chemotherapy, and monitoring for recurrence.