Active clinical trials for "Mouth Neoplasms"

The purpose of this research study is collect tissue and blood samples from patients who are having surgery and use those samples in lab studies to see if there are any markers in blood and tissue that can help predict how cancer will react to different treatment. Participants in this study will have a blood sample and tissue samples collected for research. The blood and tissue collected will be tested in the laboratory. The tissue collected will be left over tissue from the standard of care surgery.

This study evaluates the effect of FDG-PET/CT for Simulation and Radiation Treatment Planning in oral Cancer patients. Progress-free survival (PFS) will be compared with historical control as defined in the protocol

Oral squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) is a global disease responsible for ~300,000 new cancer cases each year. Local recurrence (~30% of cases) and formation of second primary malignancy are common.2, 3 Cosmetic and/or functional compromise associated with treatment of disease stage is often significant. These statistics underscore the urgent need to develop a better approach in order to control this deadly disease. It is becoming increasingly apparent that oral cancers develop within wide fields of diseased tissue characterized by genetically altered cells that are widespread across the oral cavity and present in clinically and histologically normal oral mucosa. Complete removal of these lesions is difficult because high-risk changes frequently go beyond clinically visible tumor. In recognition of this, current 'best practice' is to remove SCC with a significant width (usually 10 mm) of surrounding normal-looking oral mucosa. However, since occult disease varies in size such approach often results in over-cutting (causing severe cosmetic and functional morbidity) or under removal of disease tissue, as evidenced by frequent positive surgical margins and high local and regional recurrence - a failure of the 'best practice. There is a wealth of literature that supports the use of tissue autofluorescence in the screening and diagnosis of precancers in the lung, uterine cervix, skin and oral cavity. This approach is already in clinical use in the lung and the mechanism of action of tissue autofluorescence has been well described in the cervix. Changes in fluorescence reflect a complex interplay of alterations to fluorophores in the tissue and structural changes in tissue morphology, each associated with progression of the disease. As one of the internationally leading teams in applying tissue fluorescence technology, we have shown that direct fluorescence visualization (FV) tools can identify clinically visible or occult premalignant and malignant lesions that are associated with lesions at risk, with high-grade histology and high-risk molecular change. In a recently small scaled, retrospective study, we have shown that FV helped surgeons in the operating room to determine the extent of the high-risk FV field surrounding the cancer and resulted in remarkably lower 2-year recurrence rates (0% for FV-guided vs. 25% for those without FV-guided approach). There is need to design a larger scale prospective, randomized controlled (Phase III) trial to gather strong evidence in proving the efficacy of the surgery approach using this adjunct tool. To establish the evidence supporting the change in clinical practice using FV-guided surgery. There are 3 objectives. 2.1. Objective 1 (Clinical evidence): To assess the effect of FV-guided surgery on the recurrence-free survival of histologically confirmed disease within the context of a randomized controlled trial (efficacy). Hypothesis: FV-guided surgery will increase the recurrence-free survival. 2.2. Objective 2 (Quality of Life evidence): To establish the cost per recurrence prevented for this approach and assess quality of life issues. Hypothesis: FV-guided surgery can be delivered in a cost effective manner and improve the quality of life of patients 2.3 Objective 3 (Scientific/Molecular evidence): To assess the presence of previously validated molecular markers (microsatellite analysis, LOH) and histological change (quantitative pathology) in surgical margins in a nested case-control study involving a tumor bank created within this project. Hypothesis: FV-guided surgery will spare normal tissue at the same time improving capture of high-risk tissue.

Safety and tolerability of neoadjuvant nivolumab for locally advanced resectable oral cancer, combined with [18F]BMS-986192 / [18F]-FDG PET imaging and immunomonitoring for response prediction

The goal of this clinical study is to find out if certain instruments/devices, such as wide field fluorescence imaging point spectroscopy and/or brush cytology, can help health care providers find mouth cancer more quickly than a standard oral clinical exam.

Cervical nodal metastasis is the single most important prognostic factor in head and neck cancers. Appropriate management of the neck is therefore of paramount importance in the treatment of these cancers. While it is obvious that the positive neck must be treated, controversy has always surrounded the clinically node negative neck with respect to the ideal treatment policy.The situation is difficult with regards to early cancers of the oral cavity (T1/T2). These cancers are usually treated with surgery where excision is through the per-oral route. Elective neck dissection in such a situation is an additional surgical procedure with its associated costs, prolonged hospitalization and may be unnecessary in as high as 80% of patients who finally turn out to be pathologically node negative. Should the neck be electively treated or there be a wait and watch policy? Current practice is that the neck is always addressed whenever there is an increased propensity to cervical metastasis or when patient follow-up is unreliable. There is clearly a need therefore for a large randomized trial that will resolve the issue either way once and for all. Primary Objective: To demonstrate whether elective neck dissection (END) is equal or superior to the wait and watch policy i.e. therapeutic neck dissection (TND) in the management of the clinically No neck in early T1 /T2 cancers of the oral cavity. Secondary Objective: Does Ultrasound examination have any role in the routine initial workup of a node negative patient? How are patients ideally followed up -does sonography have a role or is clinical examination sufficient. Is assessment of tumor thickness by the surgeon at the time of initial surgery accurate -Is there a correlation Identify histological prognostic factors in the primary that may help identify a sub-set of patients at an increased risk for cervical metastasis.

Head and neck cancer (HNC) is the sixth most common cancer worldwide, accounting for 2.8% of all malignancies. The presence of tumor itself, as well as the treatment, can result in neuromuscular damage affecting any stage of the swallowing. Organ-sparing care has become more common in recent years, however, that this does not always imply functional preservation. Dysphagia and aspiration both can occur and can have complex causes. Normal swallowing has oral preparatory phase, pharyngeal phase, and the oesophageal phase, it is important to know what is the dysfunction and where. This study aim to evaluate the preoperative and postoperative swallowing function in patients with head neck cancer using electromyography (EMG) and video fluoroscopy.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the use intraoral ultrasound for measuring depth of invasion (DOI) in oral tongue squamous cell carcinoma. The DOI's measured on ultrasound and measurements from MRI scans, will be compared to the measurements made from pathological examination of removed specimens.

The goal of this clinical research study is to test a new way to look for cancer and pre-cancerous tissue changes inside the mouth.

To demonstrate whether addition of Concurrent chemotherapy to post-operative adjuvant radiotherapy OR shortening of duration of post-operative radiotherapy, by administering 6 fractions / week instead of 5 fractions / week improves local-regional control and / or overall survival in high risk, locally advanced, resectable, squamous cell carcinoma of oral cavity.