Active clinical trials for "Pancreatic Neoplasms"

Background: Pancreatic cancer is associated with a poor prognosis. Therefore, rapid and accurate diagnosis of a pancreatic mass is important to direct patient management. Endoscopic ultrasonography-guided fine needle aspiration (EUS-FNA) is the current standard for sampling pancreatic mass lesions, with diagnostic accuracy of 78% to 95%. But, the EUS-FNA has some limitations include stromal cell tumors and lymphomas may be difficult to diagnose. To overcome these limitations, a new needle device with ProCore reverse-bevel technology was developed recently. Aims: The objective of this prospective study is to compare the rate of diagnostic sufficiency in the EUS sampling by using newly developed ProCore needle with conventional FNA needle in suspected unresectable pancreatic cancer. We will also compare the safety, the yield of histologic core tissue and the cost-effectiveness between these modalities.

Evaluation of the diagnostic performance of PET / CT with 68Ga-DOTANOC in Gastroenteropancreatic Neuroendocrine Tumors with comparison with other techniques used in routine clinical practice (octreoscan ® ; multiphase SPECT / CT, MRI or endoscopy). Therapeutic impact and safety of PET / CT with 68Ga-DOTANOC will also be assessed. Expected results are a confirmation of the superiority of 68Ga-PET DOTANOC versus scintigraphy octreoscan ®, with a potential impact on the therapeutic management of patients.

Currently, the best way to evaluate pancreatic masses is through endoscopic-guided needle sampling of the mass to determine the diagnosis by looking at the acquired tissue under a microscope. This is done by inserting a small camera (endoscope) through the mouth of the patient then advanced to the stomach and using ultrasound guidance a sample of the pancreas can be acquired through the stomach. The sampling is usually done with a small needle called fine needle aspiration needle or FNA. FNA alone is sometimes limited due to inadequate acquisition of cells for proper diagnosis under the microscope, which can lead to need for repeat endoscopic procedures and delay in diagnosis and possibly treatment. Rapid on-site evaluation of cytopathology (ROSE) is where a cytopathologist is next to the physician doing the endoscopic procedures and evaluates each sampling performed immediately under the microscope and can give feedback to the endoscopist until enough cells has been acquired for a diagnosis. This method has been shown to increase the ability to diagnose pancreatic cancer but is expensive and requires significant amount of resources. New needles called core needles (fine needle biopsy, FNB) have recently been developed which not only acquires cells but also the entire tissue structure (histology) and has been shown to be also very accurate in the diagnosis of pancreatic cancer. The purpose of this study is to compare endoscopy-guided biopsy of pancreatic masses with the new core needle (FNB), which can obtain more tissue for diagnosis vs. using a traditional needle (FNA) with the help of an immediate assessment of the obtained samples under the microscope to determine whether enough tissue has been obtained (ROSE). Both approaches have been shown to increase the accuracy of diagnosis in solid pancreatic masses but it is unclear which one is superior. This is a randomized trial meaning that the participants would either undergo biopsy with the new needle or with the traditional needle plus the addition of on-site assessment of the obtained samples. The advantage of the new needle is that it is easy to implement and likely much cheaper. If the investigators can show in our study that the new needles are as accurate as FNA with ROSE then FNB could be implemented across hospitals worldwide in an easier and less expensive fashion.

Incidental pancreatic solid or cystic lesions are diagnosed with increased frequency due to the widespread use of abdominal cross-sectional imaging to investigate unrelated symptoms. Lesions such as neuroendocrine tumors (NET), mucinous cystadenomas and intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasms (IPMNs) have the potential of malignant transformation. The standard treatment of solid or cystic pancreatic lesions with malignant potential has been surgical resection, with lesions in the pancreatic head requiring a Whipple resection whereas pancreatic tail lesions are treated with distal pancreatectomy. Both types of resection carry significant morbidity and mortality. The study would like to outline the feasibility, safety, adverse events and early results of endoscopic ultrasound (EUS) - radiofrequency ablation (RFA) in pancreatic neoplasms.

After patients have been screened and have signed informed consent, they will be taken to the endoscopy suite. Once the decision has been made to proceed with Fine Needle Aspiration (FNA), the subject will be randomized to 1 of 4 groups: 22 gauge (G) needle with suction 25 G needle with suction 22 G needle without suction 25 G needle without suction Follow-up Phone Call Phase: Unit staff will call patients 1 week after the procedure to check if patients had any adverse events from the procedure and this will be recorded onto the dataset.

A multicentre phase II study to determine the safety and efficacy of EUS-guided nCLE in patients with suspected cystic tumours of the pancreas in whom endoscopic ultrasound-guided fine needle aspiration (EUS-FNA) is clinically indicated. Patients will be recruited sequentially to undergo nCLE as part of their routine diagnostic evaluation, followed by standard surveillance. This part of the study will recruit 60 patients.

Despite improvements and advances in pancreas surgery, about 30-35% of patients who have pancreas surgery develop a type of complication called a pancreatic fistula. A pancreatic fistula occurs when fluid produced by the pancreas leaks into the abdomen after pancreas surgery. Patients who develop a pancreatic fistula can have poor short-term and long-term consequences.We are studying the effect of a medical device named HEMOPATCH on the development and seriousness of pancreatic fistulas. HEMOPATCH is a thin, flexible bovine protein-based pad that may improve tissue sealing where it is applied during surgery. Some small studies called case studies of between 2 and 7 patients, and two clinical trials have shown that HEMOPATCH is effective at stopping bleeding and reducing drain output after some types of surgery. However, there have been no completed clinical trials using HEMOPATCH to prevent or reduce pancreatic fistulas in patients having pancreas surgery, so we don't know if it works in this setting. Health Canada has approved the use of HEMOPATCH as a device to stop bleeding or seal other bodily fluids for procedures in which the control of bleeding or leakage of other body fluids or air by standard surgical techniques are either ineffective or impractical.

Pancreaticoduodenectomy (PD) is the treatment of choice for resectable periampullary cancer. PD is still associated with a relatively a high incidence of delayed gastric emptying. And, there are no acknowledged strategies to avoid DGE. Several feeding strategies have been investigated to cope with this problem. However, there is still no consensus concerning the best nutrition support method after pancreaticoduodenectomy. The purpose of this study is to determine the effect of nutrition support methods on DGE after pancreaticoduodenectomy: early enteral nutrition or total parenteral nutrition. Patients undergoing pancreatoduodenectomy will be randomized to receive early enteral nutrition (EN group), or Saline administration (Saline group), or oral intake only (Natural control). The EN group will receive standard enteral diet administered through a nasojejunal tube. Enteral nutrition will be started on the 1st postoperative day and increased daily by 20-40 ml up to the estimated level. The Saline group will receive saline administered through a nasojejunal tube beginning from the 1st postoperative day. Oral intake will not be restricted in all three group.

Rationale: Rapid on-Site Evaluation (ROSE) of cytologic specimens acquired with EUS-guided fine needle aspiration (EUS-FNA) represents the most accurate available technique to reach a definitive diagnosis in patients with pancreatic solid masses. Cytologic interpretation, however, requires a high degree of expertise rarely found outside high volume centers and ROSE is not available in many countries. This has created a barrier to the widespread dissemination of EUS in the community and throughout the world, because the lack of cytologic expertise has resulted in a low diagnostic accuracy and, therefore, in a limited perceived utility of EUS. A device that is able to: (i) acquire histologic core biopsy samples usually easier to be interpreted; (ii) be used by most of the endosonographers and not only by the experts; (iii) have a performance at least not inferior to ROSE, will represent a major breakthrough in the field of EUS tissue acquisition. The availability of such needles will determine a shift from cytology to histology that will overcome some of the limitations of cytology and ROSE, thus strongly contributing to the diffusion of EUS throughout the world and in the community. Objectives: To compare the performance and the diagnostic accuracy of EUS-guided fine needle biopsy (EUS-FNB) coupled with ROSE with that of EUS-FNB alone using an FNB needle. Study design: International randomized multicenter trial. Study population: Patients ≥18 years old, referred for EUS-guided tissue sampling of a solid pancreatic mass. Intervention: EUS-guided tissue acquisition by means of either EUS-FNB with ROSE or EUS-FNB alone, using one of the following FNB needles: Procore 20-gauge, SharkCore 22-gauge or Acquire 22-gauge. Main study parameters/endpoints: The main endpoint is the diagnostic accuracy, measured against the gold standard diagnosis that will be surgical resection specimen or in non-operated patients the results of other diagnostic work-up (other tissue sampling techniques and imaging studies) or the clinical course of the disease. Secondary endpoints include: i) safety; ii) presence of tissue core; iii) feasibility to perform additional immunohistochemical/molecular biology analyses; iv) time of the sampling procedure.

This study is being done to develop a new method that can rapidly stage patients with gastric and pancreas cancer. Staging means finding out what is the extent of the cancer in a patient's body. Currently before patients have the surgery to remove their cancer, a surgical exam is done in the operating room to see if their cancer has spread. A thin tube-like instrument with lens and a light is placed into the abdomen. This is done by making small cuts into the body. This exam is called a diagnostic laparoscopy. If cancer spread is not seen, fluid is put into the abdomen and then taken out. This is called "lavage" or washing. The fluid is then looked at in a laboratory. If the fluid contains cancer cells surgery is often delayed. The investigators are testing a new method to put the fluid into the abdomen. It is called percutaneous lavage. Percutaneous means "through the skin". A needle is put through the skin into the abdomen. Tubing is then placed over the needle so that fluid can be put into the abdomen and then taken out. The fluid is then looked at in a laboratory. The investigators want to see if the two methods are equal because if they are equal, in the future, patients may be able to have this procedure done outside of the operating room.