View clinical trials related to Cancer.
Filter by:The presence of clots in the veins of arms and/or legs or lungs of Cancer patients decreases their quality of life, delays their treatment and may cause death. The best way to avoid new clots is by giving blood thinners before clots are formed, but even some patients who are taking blood thinners may form blood clots. A major problem is that it is difficult to know which patients form clots while they are receiving blood thinners, a situation called treatment failure. Several studies have shown that by doing blood tests that measure the formation of clots, the investigators could know if the patient is responding to the blood thinners. If this is proven, the investigators will be able to apply these tests to all patients.
Cancer increases the risk of deep vein blood clots and clots traveling to the lungs (emboli) which cause morbidity (leg swelling, pain, and shortness of breath), sudden death, delays cancer treatment, and decreases cancer survival by 66% compared to similar cancer patients without blood clots. Blood thinners may prevent clots but major bleeding is also a problem, so preventive therapies are not used routinely. Identifying patients at highest risk for clots is critical. A tool exists but it has not been used outside of research. We propose to study how to apply this tool in clinical practice and test if it works.
Cancer patients receiving chemotherapy experience a number of aversive symptoms that are accompanied by declines in physical and mental well-being. Although the benefits of stress management training interventions on quality of life are well documented, there are no published studies examining the efficacy of these interventions among Hispanic women and Latinas (hereafter referred to as Latinas) receiving chemotherapy. This dearth of research reflects the general lack of stress management interventions for cancer patients whose preferred language is Spanish. Simply translating existing English-language interventions into Spanish may seem to be a solution for the lack of Spanish-language stress management interventions. This approach, however, does not take into account cultural values, beliefs and situational realities that are likely to contribute to patients' uptake of health promoting behaviors. The proposed research seeks to address this gap by evaluating a stress management training intervention developed specifically for Latinas beginning chemotherapy for cancer. In response to the identified need, the investigators created a Spanish-Language Self-Administered Stress Management Training (SL-SAT) intervention "Cómo tratar el estrés durante la quimioterapia" ("How to manage stress during chemotherapy"). The intervention is based on an English-language self-administered stress management training intervention the investigators previously developed and showed to be efficacious in a randomized controlled trial. Development of the Spanish-language intervention was the result of extensive use of ethnographic and learner verification methods, guided by a community-based participatory research approach. Similar to the English-language version, the SL-SAT intervention consists of a digital video disc(DVD), booklet, and audio compact disc (CD), and provides instruction in three well-established stress management techniques: deep breathing; progressive muscle relaxation and guided imagery; and use of coping self-statements. The proposed study will evaluate the efficacy of this transcreated intervention in a randomized controlled trial involving Spanish-speaking Latinas about to begin chemotherapy for cancer. Following a baseline assessment, participants will receive usual care or usual care plus the SL-SAT intervention. Participants will be reassessed on study measures approximately 7 and 13 weeks after the baseline assessment.
Since it's introduction in 1979 at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center by Dr. Jon Kabat-Zinn, Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) has become a respected adjunct to conventional treatment for patients suffering from many diverse chronic ailments. Three decades of research have documented it's benefits, but few papers have focused on identifying which particular aspect of MBSR directly correlates with it's degree of therapeutic efficacy. This study will use 7 well validated questionnaires to compare participants responses prior to, and following completion of an eight-week MBSR program at the North York General Hospital, as well as follow-up results at 1 month and 1 year post completion of the MBSR group.
The investigators propose to evaluate the compliance of oral cancer therapies, particularly the possible link between this observance and cognitive function of patients at initiation of treatment. To our knowledge, this study will be among the first conducted on the issue in France and is an innovative approach in the management of cancer patients. The inclusion of cognitive dysfunction is part of a comprehensive approach to improving the quality of life and fully meets the objectives of both plans cancer, including those of the axis "Living during and after cancer" highlighted in the Cancer Plan
hypofractionated stereotactic boost radiation (prostate) after normofractionated radiotherapy (prostate + seminal vesicles).
Alterations involving the ROS (v-ros UR2 sarcoma virus oncogene homolog 1) gene such as mutations, overexpression and gene rearrangements has been implicated in carcinogenesis and has been demonstrated to be a relevant target for ALK inhibitors. While emerging reports have demonstrated the role of ROS rearrangement in non-small cell lung cancer and cholangiocarcinoma, the functional significance of ROS dysregulation in solid tumors remain largely unstudied. The investigators aims are: (1) To characterize the frequency of ROS gene fusion, ROS protein overexpression and ROS gene mutations in cell lines and tumors from patients with hepatocellular carcinoma, colorectal, gastric, breast, ovarian, cholangiocarcinoma and non-small cell lung cancer, (2) To identify novel ROS gene variants in human solid tumors harboring ROS aberrations using next generation sequencing (NGS), (3) To determine the functional relevance of novel ROS gene variants identified with NGS, (4) To characterize the sensitivity of cells with functionally relevant ROS aberrations using ROS tyrosine kinase inhibitors. ROS fusions and protein overexpression will be screened in a panel of cell lines and primary tumors using Fluorescence In-situ Hybridization and immunohistochemistry respectively. Targeted next-generation sequencing will be applied to identify ROS variants in matching cancer types demonstrating high levels of gene fusion and protein overexpression. Functional characterization of novel ROS variants will be performed by silencing (shRNA) and overexpressing candidate cell lines with the respective ROS mutations/fusions, and evaluating their effects on biological functions including cell proliferation, migration, invasion and apoptosis, as well as sensitivity against ROS/ALK inhibitors. The investigators anticipate findings from this study will improve the investigators understanding of aberrant ROS signaling in an expanded group of cancer types, and potentially identifying a larger group of cancer patients that will benefit from ROS targeted therapy. Further insight of the role of ROS receptor tyrosine kinase will confirm it as a therapeutic target in human solid tumors and hence expand the indication of crizotinib and other dual ALK/ ROS inhibitors. Furthermore, given the rarity of ROS fusion receptor tyrosine kinase in reported cancers, defining the epidemiology of ROS aberrations in other unreported cancers harboring ROS pathway activation is essential to properly design future clinical trials of ROS inhibitors. The validation of ROS receptor tyrosine kinase will also provide a new therapeutic target in the treatment of cancer and expand the role of novel targeted agents. Findings from this study will further the investigators knowledge on the oncogenic functions of the ROS and the application of ROS inhibitors in an extended group of solid tumors.
The investigators propose a study that aims to develop a methodology for assessing this risk and the psychological consequences of the malignancy in the palliative phase.
Exposure to secondhand smoke is a leading preventable cause of child morbidity and mortality, and the adverse health consequences of secondhand smoke are magnified among youngsters with cancer and sickle cell disease. Current methods for measuring secondhand smoke exposure (SHSe) rely on retrospective reports over extended time periods that are subject to recall errors and systematic inaccuracies in reporting and often do not include the youngster as the primary informant. These methods may underestimate the extent of cumulative SHSe and are not well suited to capturing exposure over time and across settings where young people frequent. More appealing methods that engage youngsters to better monitor tobacco smoke in their environment are warranted. The study will examine the feasibility of cell phone texting to obtain measures of secondhand smoke exposure (SHSe) in children treated for cancer or sickle cell disease (SCD).
Plastic biliary stents which are a new larger size will remain free of obstructions for a longer period of time than currently used 10 French stents in cancer in the common bile duct.