Active clinical trials for "Pancreatic Neoplasms"

Identify individuals who are at moderate and high risk or predisposed to developing pancreatic cancer with a familial history in which data collected from this study will be used to identify clinical factors associated with early detection of pancreatic cancer.

This is a randomized prospective clinical study comparing the Acquire Biopsy Device to SharkCore Biopsy Device.

Pancreatic cancer is the 5th leading cause of cancer death and the worst prognostic cancer in the world. This is due to high recurrent rate after surgical resection and poor response to chemotherapy and radiotherapy. Recent studies revealed that peri-tumoral structure and patients' immune status including cytotoxic immunity played significant role in the bad behavior of pancreatic cancer. While past studies focused on oncogenes and tumor suppressor genes, recent studies focused on patients' own immunity. Patients' immunity modified by cancer cells is found to be correlated to cancer progression and metastasis. Natural killer cells, playing an important role in cytotoxic immune system, are revealed to be decreased in patients with lung cancer, ovarian cancer, prostate cancer, colorectal cancer, and breast cancer. And in melanoma mouse model, when NK cell was suppressed, cancer progression and metastasis were accelerated. This study sought to find the correlation of patients' cytotoxic immune status to cancer progression and status by measurement of NK cell activity in pancreatic cancer patients. This would be basic support to construct a prognostic model of pancreatic cancer for early metastasis and post operational recurrence.

50 patients with pancreatic mass will undergo endoscopic ultrasound-guided fine needle aspiration using two techniques: negative pressure and slow-pull. Cytological results will be compared.

This study is being done to investigate another way of evaluating margin status after pancreatectomy by using cytopathology (slide interpretation) as compared to the traditional method of surgical pathology

Study of multi-tracer PET scans to assess response to gemcitabine in pancreatic cancer

Coeliac plexus neurolysis (CPN) is a management option for pain control in carcinoma pancreas.CPN is conventionally performed by percutaneous technique with fluoroscopic guidance. Endoscopic ultrasound (EUS) is increasingly used for CPN as it offers a better visualization of the plexus. There are limited data comparing the two modalities.The patients are on follow-up for 6 months post neurolysis.

Endoscopic Ultrasound (EUS)-guided biopsy is the most ideal technique for evaluating a growth in the pancreas. EUS-guided biopsies yield a definitive diagnosis in greater than 80% of cases. In 15-20% of the cases, a definitive diagnosis cannot be made despite multiple attempts. One of the reasons why a diagnosis cannot be made is due to the focal location of the cancer; i.e., the cancer can be situated in a corner of a big mass and the needle fails to sample the cancer cells. The fanning technique is a method where the needle moves in multiple directions within a mass and therefore there is a better chance of the cancer cells being sampled compared to the standard technique where the needle moves in only one direction. The diagnostic performance of both these techniques has not been compared in a randomized fashion.

To test the ability of new imaging techniques to monitor and predict response of pancreatic cancer to radiation and/or chemotherapy.

The aim of this study is to evaluate if the early change of needle during EUS-FNA for suspected pancreatic cancer allows an earlier preliminary cytological diagnosis of neoplasia.