Active clinical trials for "Prostatic Neoplasms"

Patients diagnosed with localized prostate cancer may be eligible for different treatment options. MAASTRO Clinic (MAAStricht Radiation Oncology) developed a web-based decision aid tool for these patients. The goal of the tool is to help patients to understand the treatments, and empower the patients to participate in the decision making process. The aim of this study is threefold: (A) user-testing and validation of the tool, by using a systematically development process compliant with the IPDAS (International Patients Decision Aids Standards) criteria (B) establish the impact of the tool on the decision making process; (C) identify barriers and facilitators for the implementation of shared decision making and the tool in clinical practice. The study covers 3 phases: Development phase 1.1 Assess decisional needs of patients and clinicians. 1.2 Test patients' and clinicians' comprehensibility, acceptability and usability on the alpha-version of the tool. 1.3 Value clarification: Delphi study with former prostate cancer patients to determine the most important patient preferences and value clarification aspects the decision aid should include. Implementation phase: Develop an implementation and dissemination plan for shared decision-making which is based on the evaluation of barriers and facilitators for the use of patient decision aid tools in clinical practice. Evaluation phase: Establish the impact of on knowledge, decisional conflict and the shared decision-making process, as well as the extent to which clinicians involve patients in decision-making. A mixed method will be used. It comprises structured interviews combined with think aloud and questionnaires with stakeholders involved in the whole process of development, implementation and evaluation (patients, urologists, radiotherapists, nurses, general practitioners, patient organizations, and insurance companies).

Several recently published retrospective studies show that regional anaesthesia (RA) can reduce cancer-related mortality following surgical treatment of colorectal, breast and prostate cancers and malignant melanoma. If these results are true, then the choice of perioperative pain management is as beneficial, or even better, than the current oncological therapies. This theory needs to be investigated in a prospective, randomized and controlled trail. We shall perform a prospective, randomized study comparing the effects of Thoracic epidural analgesia (TEA) or patient controlled analgesia (PCA) on postoperative immunological and inflammatory markers in order to understand whether the protective effects, if any, of regional analgesia are due to changes in these markers or whether the underlying mechanisms is not mediated via this stress signalling pathway.

This is a randomized, open-label study designed to assess the effects of sipuleucel-T when administered concurrently or sequentially with enzalutamide.

RATIONALE: Participating in a therapy program may enhance communication and intimacy between men with prostate cancer and their partners. PURPOSE: This randomized clinical trial is studying how well therapy enhances communication and intimacy for men with early stage prostate cancer and for their partners.

Since prostate specific antigen (PSA) was introduced as a clinical screening tool for prostate cancer, more men are diagnosed with small foci of cancers instead of the advanced disease. The present choice of treatment for men with localized prostate cancer lies between active surveillance and radical therapy. Thus, the option of treating only the cancer within the prostate gland and sparing the non-cancerous tissue is quite appealing, yet very controversial. At present there are no consistent scientific data on focal therapy and its major effectiveness. Focal therapy for prostate cancer is defined as therapy that selectively ablates known disease while preserving existing functions, with the overall aim of minimizing lifetime morbidity without compromising life expectancy. The aim of the investigators study is to test if Magnetic Resonance guided Focused Ultrasound ablation can determine non-invasive necrosis of focal, locally non-advanced prostate cancer. The study i designed as Phase 1, treatment & resection protocol. With this project the investigators further aim to evaluate the safety and identify side effects of Magnetic Resonance guided Focused Ultrasound in treating focal prostate cancer. This design will also expand knowledge of the effect of Magnetic Resonance guided Focused Ultrasound onto peri-prostatic environment and to determine if surgery can safely be adopted after this non-invasive treatment.

The aim of the present study is to investigate the effect of endurance on PSA doubling time in prostate cancer patients with an elevation in PSA following radical prostatectomy for localized cancer. Furthermore, underlying mechanisms such as reduction in inflammatory markers and improvement in insulin sensitivity and body composition are investigated.

The purpose of this study is to determine whether sustainable daily physical activity is effective in improving biological indicators of health and self-reported quality of life in men with prostate cancer.

Two memory research findings (the spacing and testing effects) can dramatically improve retention of learning, but they have largely have been ignored by educators. The researchers have developed a novel form of online education (termed 'spaced education') based on these two effects which has been shown in randomized trials to improve knowledge acquisition and boost learning retention. Using prostate cancer screening as an experimental system, the researchers investigated whether spaced education could durably improve clinicians' behaviors, not just their knowledge.

The primary purpose of the study is to determine the effects of an implementation intention intervention on physical activity (PA) behaviour in prostate cancer survivors. Secondary aims are to (a) compare the effects of a telephone-assisted implementation intention intervention against a self-administered implementation intention intervention and a standard recommendation group on physical activity behaviour and (b) document the effects of these interventions on quality of life (QoL), fatigue, symptom management, and physical functioning. Hypotheses: Evidence exists that an implementation intention intervention can lead to significant improvements in PA levels and that regular PA has been shown to improve QoL, fatigue levels, manage symptoms and improve physical functioning in cancer survivors'. As such, the following hypotheses were generated: (1) prostate cancer survivors exposed to the researcher-assisted implementation intention intervention will have higher PA levels at the 1- and 3-month follow-ups compared to the self-completed implementation intention intervention and the standard recommendation group; (2) prostate cancer survivors in the researcher-assisted implementation intention intervention will show significant improvements in QoL, fatigue levels, symptom management, and physical functioning compared to the self-completed implementation intention intervention and the standard recommendation group at the 1- and 3-month follow-up; and (3) prostate cancer survivors in the self-completed implementation intention intervention will have higher PA levels, and better improvements in QoL, fatigue levels, symptom management, and physical functioning compared to the standard recommendation group at the 1- and 3-month follow-ups.

RATIONALE: Continued smoking after a cancer diagnosis has important health consequences beyond the risks associated with smoking in the general population. Smoking reduces the efficacy of cancer treatments including surgery, radiation and chemotherapy. Despite the negative consequences, it is estimated that between 15-75% of patients with cancer continue to smoke after their cancer diagnosis. Lung, breast, prostate, colorectal, bladder, head & neck, and cervical cancer patients were chosen because there is evidence of potential clinical benefit associated with quitting smoking in all of these populations and they represent a mix of both smoking and non-smoking related cancers.