Active clinical trials for "Esophageal Neoplasms"

The goal of this clinical research study is to learn if the results of a positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) scan done 10-14 days after beginning chemotherapy and radiation (chemoradiation) can predict how a patient with cancer of the esophagus will respond to chemoradiation. Researchers also want to learn if biomarkers (substances in the body associated with cancer) found in tumor tissue can predict response to chemoradiation.

Objectives: Primary Objective: 1. To determine the correlation between 4-dimensional computed tomography (4D CT) derived ventilation and single photon emission tomography (SPECT) aerosol Tc-99m determined ventilation. Secondary Objective: To evaluate the reproducibility of the 4D CT derived ventilation and to obtain an estimate of the variance in a single setting. To assess the correlation between hypoperfused and hypoventilated pulmonary regions in patients with thoracic malignancies. To investigate the effect of continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) on ventilation and tumor motion.

To investigate the efficacy and toxicity of S-1 with concurrent radiotherapy in older patients with esophageal cancer.

This research study is a Phase I clinical trial. Phase I clinical trials test the feasibility and safety of an investigational technique or drug. This study will try to define an appropriate dose of the investigational drug indocyanine green (ICG) in combination with near infrared (NIR) imaging to use for further studies. "Investigational" means that this drug, ICG, is approved by the FDA for other imaging uses, but not for lymphatic mapping using NIR light. Its use for following lymphatic pathways from tumors in the human body is still being studied and research doctors are trying to find out more about it. It also means that the FDA has not approved ICG mapping for your type of cancer. ICG is a dye and is approved for testing liver function and measuring blood flow from the heart. This drug has been used in studies to map lymphatic pathways in lung cancer and breast cancer and information from those other research studies suggests that this dye may help to identify lymph nodes associated with your esophageal tumor in this research study. ICG can be detected within the body using special near-infrared light cameras. In this research study, the investigators are looking at how easily ICG can get to the first lymph node (called the sentinel lymph node or SLN) associated with your esophageal tumor and whether the investigators can see the path of the ICG and the respective SLN using a near infrared camera.

There have been reports suggesting that anti-epidermal growth factor antibody nimotuzumab is advantageous for advanced esophageal cancer patients in combination with chemotherapy or radiotherapy. However, whether maintenance therapy of nimotuzumab provides benefit to advanced esophageal cancer patients is not known.

This partially randomized phase I/II trial studies the side effects and best dose of c-Met inhibitor AMG 337 when given together with oxaliplatin, leucovorin calcium, and fluorouracil and to see how well they work in treating patients with stomach or esophageal cancer that has spread to other places in the body and usually cannot be cured or controlled with treatment. C-Met inhibitor AMG 337 may stop the growth of tumor cells by blocking some of the enzymes needed for cell growth. Drugs used in chemotherapy, such as, oxaliplatin, leucovorin calcium, and fluorouracil, work in different ways to stop the growth of tumor cells, either by killing the cells, by stopping them from dividing, or by stopping them from spreading. Giving c-Met inhibitor AMG 337 with oxaliplatin, leucovorin calcium, and fluorouracil may kill more tumor cells.

Video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS) has become a standard technique for addressing all types of thoracic pathology. Insufflation of carbon dioxide (CO2) into the operated chest cavity could increase lung collapse and improve surgical field view. The actual thoracic pressure values may not be identical with the presetting on the insufflator display. This overshoot pressure during VATS may compromise cardiac and pulmonary function. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effects of intrathoracic pressure overshoot during two-lung ventilation on the hemodynamic and respiratory function and clarify the relative safety of two different techniques of insufflation.

Confocal endomicroscopy is an emerging technique that allows in vivo imaging of cells and tissue structures of the gastrointestinal mucosa, with a magnification of about 1000 times, guiding optical biopsies in real time. Confocal endomicroscopy represents technique that combines conventional white light image with the confocal microscope probe, thereby allowing examination of the surface epithelium in vivo and histological diagnosis during endoscopy. Among the applications already established for its use, stand out diagnosis of Barrett's esophagus, gastric atrophy and intestinal metaplasia, celiac disease, differentiation of hyperplastic adenomatous polyps of the colon, microscopic colitis and follow-up of patients with inflammatory disease, reducing the need for endoscopic biopsies. The CLE can still detect molecular changes effectively improving the endoscopic diagnosis. This pilot project consists of 07 subprojects which the technology of confocal endomicroscopia will be evaluated and compared with the histological results of biopsy or surgical specimens: 1. confocal endomicroscopy for the diagnosis of high-grade dysplasia and superficial esophageal adenocarcinoma in patients with Barrett's esophagus 2 Diagnosis of superficial esophageal squamous cell carcinoma in patients with head and neck cancer by confocal endomicroscopy 3 Detect the presence of premalignant lesions in the gastric stump in patients with reflux alkaline gastritis after partial gastrectomy 4. detect lesions in the gastric mucosa of patients with familial history of gastric cancer 5 Biliary Strictures: differential diagnosis by confocal endomicroscopia 6 confocal Endomicroscopy of cystic neoplasms of the pancreas 7 Contribution of confocal endomicroscopy for the differential diagnosis of colorectal polyps The project aims to deploy the structure of the Confocal endomicroscopy Endoscopy ICESP, for performing in vivo histological examinations of the digestive tract, biliary tract and pancreas. All research groups involved in the early detection of tumors of the esophagus, stomach, biliary tract, pancreas, colon and rectum may benefit from the implementation of this methodology.

The aim of the present study was to investigate if NTG, administered intravenously during gastric tube reconstruction, could preserve gastric fundus tissue blood flow and oxygenation and reduce the incidence of postoperative leakage.

The goal of this observational study is to screen and differentiate common cancers in participants with or without suspicious lesions. The main question the investigators aim to answer is: Can the developed model, using peripheral blood cell-free DNA sequencing, work well in screening and classifying common cancers especially in the early stages? Participants will undergo the collection of 15~20ml of blood and 1~2 telephone follow-up calls.