Active clinical trials for "Prostatic Neoplasms"

RATIONALE: Measuring levels of transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-beta) in the blood of patients with epithelial cancers (head and neck, lung, breast, colorectal, and prostate) may help doctors predict how patients will respond to treatment with radiation therapy. PURPOSE: This research study is measuring levels of TGF-beta in patients with epithelial cancers who are undergoing radiation therapy.

RATIONALE: Chemotherapy may cause blood clots to form in the thigh, leg, and lung. This study may help doctors understand how often blood clots occur in patients undergoing chemotherapy. PURPOSE: This clinical trial is studying how often blood clots occur in patients undergoing chemotherapy for solid tumors, including colorectal cancer, stomach cancer, lung cancer, ovarian cancer, pancreatic cancer, prostate cancer, or metastatic breast cancer

RATIONALE: Studying samples of blood in the laboratory from patients before and after treatment may help doctors learn more about the effects of the treatment on cells. PURPOSE: This clinical trial is studying samples collected from patients with localized prostate cancer who received treatment on clinical trial NCI-00-C-0154.

The goal of this clinical research study is to find out if men who have a type of prostate cancer that has been classified as "low risk" can safely not be treated for the disease. Doctors want to know if patients with "low risk" cancer can avoid or postpone therapy and the related side effects and still live as long as patients who immediately receive therapy. This is an investigational study. There are no medications used in this trial. About 1,000 patients will take part in this study. All will be enrolled at MD Anderson.

RATIONALE: Developing a questionnaire that can be used to assess the quality of life among people who have a family member with cancer may help the study of cancer in the future. PURPOSE: This clinical trial is studying quality of life among families with a member who is a cancer patient.

Purpose of this study is the evaluation of QoL, tolerability and use of Zoladex 10,8 SafeSystem for advanced PCa under naturalistic conditions

The male sex-hormone called testosterone is known to play a key role in the growth of prostate cancer. The usual treatment for the disease involves suppression of hormones (testosterone) by anti-hormonal treatment for an unknown period of time until the cancer progresses. This anti-hormonal treatment usually consists of injections every three months with an LHRH(Leutinizing Hormone-Releasing Hormone) agonist and a short course of anti-androgen pills, which together help to lower the production of testosterone. Long-term hormonal treatment has potentially serious side effects and is expensive. In this study, hormonal treatments will be with held from those patients eligible and willing to participate. The aim of this study is to see if we can decrease the amount of hormone injections that patients require. This might lead to a decreased side effects(such as decrease in bone health, cardiovascular problems and metabolic syndrome which occurs when several health conditions happen at the same time and can lead to an increased risk of heart disease, stroke and diabetes) as well as to decrease the cost of hormonal therapy to treat prostate cancer.

This study will determine whether certain gene alterations can serve as markers for early detection of prostate cancer. Prostate cancer is often diagnosed by detecting high levels of a protein called prostate-specific antigen (PSA) in the blood. Other conditions can also cause elevated PSA levels, however, so that additional tests are needed to distinguish between benign and cancerous prostate conditions. Patients between 40 and 75 years of age who are referred to Howard University Hospital in Washington, D.C., or Madigan Army Medical Center in Tacoma, Washington, for ultrasound and needle biopsy to diagnose prostate cancer may be eligible for this study. Participants will undergo the following procedures at the time of the biopsy visit: Blood collection: Patients have 10 milliliters (2 teaspoons) of blood drawn. Prostate massage: Patients have a rectal examination and prostate massage. For the latter procedure, the physician lightly massages the prostate gland for about 15 seconds. After the massage, the patient provides a urine specimen. Biopsy: A small sample of tumor tissue is removed surgically for examination under the microscope. Patients whose initial biopsy does not show cancer cells, but who are advised to have a repeat biopsy in the future will give a blood, urine, and biopsy specimen at the time of the next biopsy. Patients who are diagnosed with prostate cancer and undergo surgery to remove the tumor will have a small sample of tumor tissue set aside for this study to look for substances that may help predict prostate cancer.

RATIONALE: Diagnostic procedures such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) using ferumoxytol may improve the ability to detect cancer that has spread to the lymph nodes and may help plan effective cancer treatment. PURPOSE: This clinical trial is studying how well MRI using ferumoxytol works in detecting metastases to the lymph nodes in patients with primary prostate cancer or primary breast cancer.

The purpose of this study is to explore patient and partner experiences with sexual dysfunction following radical prostatectomy, in order to understand its effects on sexual and non-sexual intimacy. This will enable us to provide assistance in the future to individuals experiencing similar circumstances.