All clinical trials

Endometrial cancer is one of the most common female malignancies in the United States, and has increased in incidence in Taiwan in recent decades.A recent population-based analysis noted that 4% of endometrial cancers occurred in women aged 40 years or younger, furthermore it is up to 15% in Taiwan according to the data of cancer registry. The standard treatment of endometrial cancer results in surgical menopause and places patients at risk for the long-term sequelae of estrogen deprivation. The goal of this study was to determine the frequency of a coexisting ovarian malignancy and to evaluate the outcome of ovarian preservation in women with treatment for endometrial cancer.

In patients undergoing cardiac surgery under cardiopulmonary bypass, some organs like brain and heart are preserved while others (skin, gut and skeletal muscle) are being underperfused. This phenomenon is related to silent peripheral vasoconstriction that is not clinically available but threatens end-organ perfusion and carries the risk of multi-organ failure. By measuring non-invasively the somatic-to-cerebral oxygen saturation gradient, the present study aims at detecting silent peroperative hypoperfusion episodes. The investigators hypothesize that gradient, measured during the surgical procedure, will predict the occurrence of anaerobic metabolism, ascertained by an elevation of blood lactate concentration, measured in intensive care unit.

To verify the accuracy and reliability of the ultra wideband (UWB) non-contact breath rate and heart rate monitor, ICU bedside monitor is used as the gold standard.

The main objective of this study is to investigate the muscle metabolism in individuals with chronic non-specific low back pain (CNSLBP) to enhance our understanding of chronic back pain.

The investigators believe DCAMKL-1 is a stem cell tumor marker and is elevated in patients with pancreatic cancer. The investigators would like to analyze its expression pre and post treatment, to gauge the correlation between current pancreatic cancer therapies and the expression of DCAMKL-1

Neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1) is a frequent, autosomal dominant disorder caused by heterozygous mutations (intragenic or microdeletion) of the NF1 tumor suppressor gene (chr.17q11.2). One of the clinical features is the development of benign and malignant tumors. The most common benign tumors in these patients are tumors of the peripheral nerve sheath, named neurofibromas (cutaneous, subcutaneous and plexiform). Every NF1 patient has a life time risk of 8 to 13% of developing a malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumor (MPNST) out of a pre-existing neurofibroma. In patients with a NF1 microdeletion (5% of NF1 patients), this risk is even twice as high compared to patients with an intragenic mutation. MPNSTs lead to a bad prognosis for the patient, with an overall five-year survival of less than 25%. To know more about the development and progression of these tumors, they will be screened by microarray comparative genome hybridization (Leuven) and full exome sequencing (Leuven). Further experiments will be done in cooperation (bidirectional) with the foreign labs of Victor Mautner (Germany), André Bernards (USA), Karen Cichowski (USA) and Yuan Zhu (USA). For all these experiments, we will make use of tumoral rest material removed from NF1 patients.

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the use of non-invasive markers of the autonomic function and micro- and macrocirculation to predict mortality and cardiovascular end points in end-stage renal disease patients. Furthermore we aim at getting new insight into the insufficiently understood pathophysiology leading to excessively high cardiovascular and non-cardiovascular mortality in dialysis patients.

The inner ear contains transporters that are responsible for maintaining a strict homeostatic environment, necessary for transmission and transduction of sound waves. Hemodialysis affects the body's composition including the aspects regulated by these transporters (pH, osmolarity, Na, K). We wish to observe if hemodialysis affects hearing, and if so, by which parameters.

Dental implants are a valid and reliable method to replace missing teeth. The major requirement for their success is an adequate volume of bone into which they can be placed. One widely used method to augment bone at the time of placing the implant is to use a bone substitute rather than taking a block bone graft from the patient. Successful augmentation in the vertical direction has often proved difficult, however, the investigators have developed a technique to achieve this in the investigators patients using a synthetic bone substitute, Osteon (Implantium, CE0120) in an attempt to avoid patients having to undergo another unnecessary surgical procedure.

The goal of this study is gathering informations about patients' quality of life after combined modality treatment of rectal cancer to evaluate how combined modality treatment for rectal cancer affects patients' quality of life. The findings of this study may provide us important information that can be used in treatment decision and to develop programs to improve quality of life of patients with rectal cancer.