Active clinical trials for "Prostatic Neoplasms"

Some men newly diagnosed with prostate cancer do not require immediate treatment. Rather, they can be followed closely with regular physical exams, blood work and repeated biopsies of the prostate. If the prostate cancer is becoming more aggressive, curative treatment can be offered at that time. This strategy of delaying treatment until necessary is called active surveillance in prostate cancer. Active surveillance is a way of monitoring prostate cancer which aims to avoid or delay unnecessary treatment in men with less aggressive cancer. Prostate cancer can be slow growing and, for many men, the disease may never progress or cause any symptoms. In other words, many men with prostate cancer will never need any treatment. Treatments for prostate cancer may cause side effects which can affect your quality of life. By monitoring the cancer with regular tests, you can avoid or delay these side effects. Active surveillance is generally suitable for men with low risk early stage prostate cancer that is contained within the prostate gland (localized prostate cancer). If doctors had a better way of identifying who might be best suited for this approach, it would likely become more appealing for more men. In this study, the investigators are looking at how accurate a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan is at identifying high-risk prostate cancer, which might make a man a poor candidate for active surveillance. To do this, the investigators are collecting data from the MRI scan of men and comparing it to a trans-rectal biopsy performed following the scan. The results of this study will help inform doctors how accurate the MRI is in identifying men who should not be on active surveillance.

The objective of the Prostate Cancer Education in African American Churches project is to develop and evaluate a spiritually-based educational intervention for Informed Decision Making (IDM) for prostate cancer screening to be delivered to African American men in church settings.

This phase II trial studies how well fluorine F 18 sodium fluoride positron emission tomography (PET)/computed tomography (CT) and whole body and axial magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) work in finding metastases in patients with recurrent prostate cancer. New imaging techniques, such as fluorine F 18 sodium fluoride PET/CT and whole body and axial MRI, may be more effective than standard CT and bone scan in finding metastatic prostate cancer.

Prostate cancer (PCa) is currently the most common neoplastic disease among men in well-developed countries with 350 000 new cases diagnosed annually in Europe and 4 800 in Finland. Due to widespread use of serum prostate specific antigen (PSA) in asymptomatic men, most patients present initially with localized disease. Radical prostatectomy, radiotherapy (RT) and active surveillance are the most common management options for patients with localized PCa. Proper preoperative staging for patients with adverse features on biopsy who are candidates for radical prostatectomy is urgently needed. For elderly men external beam RT is the preferred modality which can be safely performed utilizing modern techniques such as intensity modulated and image guided radiotherapy (IMRT and IGRT). Since randomized studies suggest a dose response effect beyond 78-80 Gy newer techniques aim at dose escalation provided that toxicity can be controlled. Therefore, ultra high dose IMRT/IGRT requires visualization of intracapsular disease which will receive the highest dose. Taken together, the use of accurate anatomical and functional imaging modalities are essential for planning both nerve sparing radical prostatectomy and ultra high dose IMRT/IGRT Fluorine-18 labeled L-leucine analogue 1-amino-3-fluorocyclobutane-1-carboxylic acid (FACBC) has shown to preferentially accumulate in PCa and its nodal metastases. By assisting in localization of intraprostatic and pelvic disease FACBC with hybrid positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) or magnetic resonance imaging (PET/MRI) has potential to improve selection of patients for robot-assisted radical prostatectomy and IMRT/IGRT. Anatomical MRI at 1.5 Tesla (T) compared with transrectal ultrasound has demonstrated a higher sensitivity for tumor detection but almost the same specificity, stressing the need for additional metabolic MRI. Advanced application of MRI such as proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1H MRS), diffusion weighted imaging (DWI) and dynamic contrast enhanced imaging (DCE-MRI) are increasingly being used for detection and characterization of PCa. The use of 3T scanners and multiparametric MRI (mpMRI), consisting of anatomical MRI, DWI, 1H MRS and DCE-MRI, demonstrated very promising result for staging and detection of PCa.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the hypothesis, that mMRI provides a more accurate and secure interpretation of the aggressiveness of prostate cancer initially/before mMRI defined as low risk. In doing so we will investigate and assess the affect of mMRI on gleason score upgrade, risk classification upgrade and changes in treatment strategy (active surveillance vs. operation).

This study is a randomized trial examining the administration of a combination of biguanide metformin and atorvastatin ("Lipitor") to men who are experiencing rising prostate-specific antigen (PSA) levels, despite having undergone radical therapy (surgery and/or radiation).

Prostate cancer is currently the leading newly diagnosed cancer in the industrialized world. Treatment of prostate cancer is highly dependent on the stage of the disease. Current methods for staging of bone metastases are known to be inaccurate. Staging of lymph nodes requires surgery associated with risk of bleeding etc. Prior studies from our department suggest that PET/CT is useful in staging of bone metastases in patients with prostate cancer. The aim of this study is to compare the usefulness of Dual time point FDG PET/CT with current methods for the staging of bone and lymph node metastases in patients with newly diagnosed prostate cancer. Better initial staging will result in better treatment of the individual patient. If we are able to develop a more accurate and non-invasive method of staging patients with undetected metastases on current staging will be spared of the side-effects associated with current treatment and staging- impotence, incontinence, radiation damage, bleeding, infection etc.

The purpose of this study is to first determine the highest dose of LDE225 combined wtih Docetaxel and Prednisone that can be given that does not cause unacceptable side effects when given to patients with castrate resistant prostate cancer who failed previous docetaxel therapy.

This study evaluates the dose received by the prostate with in vivo dosimetry when delivering image guided radiation therapy (IGRT) associated with intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) for patients with localized prostate cancer using two repositioning techniques: fiduciary markers or soft tissues.

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of a weight management program for men undergoing a prostatectomy by seeing if the program is easy to follow, impacts weight gain, and reduces risk of cancer recurrence in the participants.