Active clinical trials for "Pancreatic Neoplasms"

To learn if a supervised exercise program during chemotherapy treatments can help to improve outcomes in patients who have been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer

This clinical trial studies the effectiveness of a web-based cancer education tool called Helping Oncology Patients Explore Genomics (HOPE-Genomics) in improving patient knowledge of personal genomic testing results and cancer and genomics in general. HOPE-Genomics is a web-based education tool that teaches cancer/leukemia patients, and patients who may be at high-risk for developing cancer, about genomic testing and provide patients with information about their own genomic test results. The HOPE-Genomics tool may improve patient's genomic knowledge and quality of patient-centered care. In addition, it may also improve education and care quality for future patients.

In solid cancers, some more aggressive tumor cells actively detach from the primary lesion and then travel through the circulating compartment to reach distant organs and form micro-metastases. These circulating tumor cells (CTCs) that have become disseminated tumor cells (DTCs) flourish in their new environments and may remain dormant for many years after the complete resection of the primary tumor. Detecting CTCs in the blood is also relevant for assessing tumor progression, prognosis and therapeutic follow-up. The non-invasive, highly sensitive for CTCs analysis is called "liquid biopsy". Pancreatic adenocarcinoma and breast cancer remain among cancers of very poor prognosis and thus represent a major therapeutic challenge. In recent years, the Axl membrane tyrosine kinase receptor has been the target of growing interest. Activation of the Gas6/Axl signaling pathway is associated with, among other things, tumor cell growth and survival, epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT) or drug resistances. In addition, Axl overexpression is frequently identified in patients with pancreatic adenocarcinoma and is associated with a poor prognosis. For example, the Laboratoire des Cellules Circulantes Rares Humaines (LCCRH) at the CHU and the University of Montpellier has developed two new "CTC-AXL" tests to detect CTCs expressing Axl: one using the CellSearch® (gold standard and FDA-approved) system and the other using the EPIDROP technique. The purpose of this research project is to assess the concordance of the "CTC-AXL" measurement by the innovative EPIDROP technique and the CellSearch® technique in patients with metastatic pancreatic or breast cancer.

This clinical trial studies the safety of a real-time tele-exercise resistance training (training done using a tablet) in maintaining skeletal muscle, strength, physical function, and health-related quality of life in patients with pancreatic cancer who are receiving combination chemotherapy or have undergone surgery for the treatment of pancreatic cancer. Tele-exercise resistance training may improve physical function and quality of life in patients with pancreatic cancer.

This project aims at evaluating the different subtypes of pancreatic cancer on EUS-tissue acquisition of pancreatic cancer patients, and their possible modifications throughout time. The study takes advantage of a systematic evaluation of pancreatic cancers through diagnostic EUS-guided fine needle biopsy (FNB) sampling of the mass performed during a restaging EUS. FNB samples represent a valuable source of cancer cells, both for the histological diagnosis and as the source of tumor macromolecules, including DNA and RNA. Study design This is a prospective study enrolling patients with non-metastatic pancreatic cancer who already underwent diagnostic EUS with tissue acquisition and rapid on-site evaluation (ROSE) by cytologist positive for pancreatic cancer, with a first sample acquired for diagnostic purposes and a second sample stored for RNA extraction acquired with the already approved protocol BIOGASTRO. As recommended by guidelines, patients will follow the standard pathway of treatment, being sent to chemotherapy and will then undergo restaging of the lesion and re-evaluation of vascular invasion by CT and EUS. During this second session of EUS a new specimen of the tumor will be sampled for diagnostic purposes, with a second pass undergoing for RNA extraction.

Endoscopic ultrasound (EUS) allows EUS-guided trans gastric injection of absolute alcohol around the base of the celiac plexus (celiac plexus neurolysis (EUS-CPN)), to help alleviate pain associated with pancreatic cancer. It is standard procedure to inject bupivacaine immediately before injecting absolute alcohol, to theoretically prevent pain that may occur during and after the procedure. However, there are no data showing whether bupivacaine injection has any real influence on intra-procedural, immediate post-procedural, or long-term pain control. The injection of bupivacaine before the alcohol may have no effect, a synergistic effect, or an antagonistic effect, by diluting the alcohol, and reducing its neurolytic capacity. Inadvertent intravascular injection of bupivacaine may also cause irreversible cardiac arrhythmias and death. The investigators therefore propose a randomized clinical trial to determine whether the exclusion of bupivacaine during EUS-guided CPN improves outcomes, or not.

Pancreatic cancer is a disease with a very poor prognosis and less than 10% of these patients live beyond 5 years from diagnosis. Further, it is expected to become the second leading cause of death in the coming years. Today, surgery remains the cornerstone in curing this disease, but the addition of chemotherapy is needed to improve survival. The impact of adjuvant treatment has been previously demonstrated and its efficacy is absolute. However, neoadjuvant chemotherapy (pre-surgery) improves the results after surgery (achieving earlier stages and with better prognosis) and would lead to better survival results. Besides, the moment of cancer diagnosis is a moment of special receptivity to change lifestyles ("teachable moment"). Multimodal prehabilitation includes 1) physical exercise; 2) nutritional and 3) psychological support. The potential advantages of prehabilitation during neoadjuvant therapy would be 1) the possibility of achieving a better physical condition to face surgery; 2) fewer postoperative complications; 3) more likely to receive adjuvant treatment after surgery; 4) better physical function at the end of treatments. To date, most studies have focused on lung and prostate cancer, with a high prevalence of men in the series. This strategy has previously been explored, showing that it is safe and feasible, (Loughney et al). We have not identified any study of trimodal prehabilitation during neoadjuvant treatment and none that has integrated motivational strategies to maintain adherence. Patients during chemotherapy have perceived several adverse effects that could limit adherence to the program. In this regard, a review on the motivation and exercise in cancer survivors shows that it is necessary to apply theoretical frameworks to understand cognitive and motivational processes and develop educational interventions. The self-determination theory (SDT, Deci and Ryan) is one of the motivational theories most applied today to the analysis of factors related to the adoption of healthy lifestyles. Likewise, patients who are motivated are more likely to improve healthy habits and obtain greater adherence to exercise performance. Therefore, we aimed of carrying out an intervention (pilot study) in ten patients to describe the feasibility of a trimodal prehabilitation program in the hospital environment, applying motivational strategies and a mixed-method (face-to-face and online).

A randomized phase II study evaluating maintenance therapy after first line induction chemotherapy in metastatic cancer pancreas.

The hypothesis of this study is that an occlusion balloon catheter placed in the stomach via an oral or nasogastric route will be safe and permit tracking of the stomach during radiation therapy.

The purpose of the study is to compare the success rates of procedure success and complication rates in patients undergoing Endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) using two types of currently available endoscopes. These are (1) duodenoscope with a Single-use distal cover or (2) a conventional reusable duodenoscope.