There are about 10460 clinical studies being (or have been) conducted in Australia. The country of the clinical trial is determined by the location of where the clinical research is being studied. Most studies are often held in multiple locations & countries.
Photodynamic therapy (PDT) is the selective destruction of abnormal cells through light activation of a photosensitiser in the presence of oxygen. These cells accumulate more photosensitiser than normal cells. The photosensitiser generates reactive oxygen species upon illumination. For skin diseases, there has been an increasing interest in using precursors of the endogenous photosensitiser protoporphyrin IX (PpIX). The most commonly used precursors have been 5-aminolevulinic acid (ALA) and its derivatives. The present test drug, Metvix®, contains the methyl ester of ALA, which penetrates the lesions well and shows high lesion selectivity . In vitro studies of animal and human tissues have shown significant intracellular formation of photoactive porphyrins after addition of Metvix®. The increased levels of photoactive porphyrins induced cytotoxic effects in tumour cells after photoactivation. The primary objective is to compare PDT with Metvix® cream to PDT with placebo cream in terms of patient complete response rates based on histologically verified disappearance of the lesions at 6 months after last treatment cycle. Secondary objectives are to compare the two treatments in terms of histological and clinical mean patient response weighted by the number of lesions within a patient, lesion response rates across patients, clinical complete patient response, cosmetic outcome and adverse events.
The purpose of this study is to determine in Australia what effect rheumatoid arthritis has on quality of life, and also to determine the costs that are associated with having rheumatoid arthritis.
Inguinal hernia repair is a common surgical procedure. The major current debates revolve around laparoscopic hernia repair. The most recent Cochrane review concluded that laparoscopic inguinal hernia repair was associated with less post operative and chronic pain, shorter convalescence and earlier return to work when compared to open repair (McCormack K, Scott NW, Go PM, Ross S, Grant AM. EU hernia trialist collaboration. Laparoscopic techniques versus open techniques for inguinal hernia repair. Cochrane Database Syst Rev 2003; 1(CD001785.). However, laparoscopic repair has not gained wide acceptance. It is more expensive, technically difficult for the inexperienced surgeon, is associated with rare but potentially more hazardous procedure related complications (Lo CH, Trotter D, Grossberg P. Unusual complications of laparoscopic totally extraperitoneal inguinal hernia repair. ANZ journal of Surgery 2005 Oct, 75(10): 917 - 919.) and unlike open repair, requires a general anaesthetic. Critics state that laparoscopic repair is not suitable for all general surgeons and should be restricted to experts. Two prospective studies have shown that a longer laparoscopic learning curve exists when compared to open surgery. Up to 200 laparoscopic procedures are required to achieve a recurrence rate comparable to open mesh repair. (Bittner R, Schmedt CG, Schwarz J, Kraft K, Leigl BJ. Laparoscopic transperitoneal procedure for routine repair of groin hernia British journal of Surgery 2002 89; 1062 - 1066.) A meta-analysis and large multicentre randomised study have added to these concerns by demonstrating a higher recurrence rate with laparoscopic repair. (Memon MA, Cooper NJ, Memon B, Memon MI, Abrams KR. Meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials comparing open and laparoscopic inguinal hernia repair. British journal of Surgery 2003; 90: 1479 - 1492. Neumayer L, Giobbie-Hurder, Jonasson O, Fitzgibbons R, Dunlop D, Gibbs J et al. Open mesh versus laparoscopic mesh repair of inguinal hernias. New England Journal of Medicine 2004; 350: 1819 - 1827.). Over the period 1998 to 2003, in Denmark, the frequency of laparoscopic repair remained constant at 4.5 - 8.0%, the laparoscopic approach being used more frequently for bilateral hernia repairs and recurrent hernia repairs. There was a higher re-operation rate following laparoscopic repair of bilateral inguinal hernias compared to bilateral open hernia repair. (Wara P, Bay-Nielsen M, Juul P, bendix J, Kehlet H. Prospective nationwide analysis of laparoscopic versus Lichenstein repair of inguinal hernia. British Journal of Surgery 2005 92(10); 1277 - 1281.) Given these issues, a considerable number of adult inguinal hernia repairs will continue to be performed using the open technique. There is the opportunity to improve the results of open repair by potentially improving post operative pain and chronic pain. One method may be to perform an ilio inguinal nerve block. However, this procedure can be complicated by femoral nerve palsy, colonic or small bowel puncture and pelvic haematomas (Johr M, Sossai R. Colonic puncture during ilioinguinal nerve block in a child. Anesth Analg 1999 88 1051 - 1052, Amory C, mariscal A, Guyot E et al. Is ilioinguinal/iliohypogastric nerve block always totally safe in children? Paediatr Anaesth 2003; 13: 164 - 166. Vaisman J. Pelvic hematoma after an ilioinguinal nerve block for orchialgia Anesth Analg 2001 92 1048 - 1049. Notaras MJ. Transient femoral nerve palsy complicating preoperative ilioinguinal nerve blockade for inguinal herniorrhaphy. British Journal of Surgery 1995 82: 854. Rosario DJ, Skinner PP, Raftery AT. Transient femoral nerve palsy complicating preoperative ilioinguinal nerve blockade for inguinal herniorrhaphy. British journal of Surgery 1994 81: 897. Ghani KR, McMillan R, Paterson-Brown S. Transient femoral nerve palsy following ilio-inguinal nerve blockade for day case inguinal hernia repair. J R Coll Surg Edinb 2002; 47: 626 - 629. Erez I, Buchumensky V, Shenhman Z, et al. Quadriceps paresis in pediatric groin surgery. Pediatr Surg Int 2002; 18: 157 - 158, Vironen J, Neiminen J, Eklund A, Paavolainen P. Randomised clinical trial of Lichtenstein patch or prolene hernia system for inguinal hernia repair. British Journal of Surgery 2006; 93: 33 - 39)), resulting in delayed discharge of patients. It also has a failure rate of 20 - 30% (Lim SL, Ng SB, Tan GM. Ilioinguinal and iliohypogastric nerve block revisited; single shot versus double shot technique for hernia repair in children. Paediatr Anaesth 2002; 12; 255 - 260.) The aim of our study is therefore to assess the role of ilio inguinal nerve block in adult patients undergoing primary inguinal hernia repair.
The study evaluated the safety and efficacy of nilotinib versus current treatment in adults with gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GIST) who have either progressed or who were intolerant to the first and second line treatments.
This is a 12 month study designed to evaluate the safety and effectiveness of SB-751689 in the treatment of osteoporosis in post-menopausal women, in comparison with 2 active comparators and placebo.
The purpose of the study is to determine the safety, tolerability and efficacy of 2 doses of PBT2 administered for 12 weeks compared to placebo in patients with early Alzheimer's disease treated with an acetylcholinesterase inhibitor.
The purpose of this study is to determine whether investigational study drug, AG-013736, and gemcitabine are effective in the first-line treatment of advanced pancreatic cancer.
This is a study to assess the effectiveness of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) as a treatment for depressed adults with bipolar disorder. In rTMS high-intensity, fluctuating magnetic fields non-invasively stimulate the cortex of the brain depolarising neurons. No anaesthetic is required and the treatment in subconvulsive. Recent studies suggest that rTMS can be an effective treatment for depressive illness in adults (Loo and Mitchell et al, 2005) and appears to be quite safe. Most of the published studies to date have focused on unipolar depression. There is limited data of TMS use in bipolar depression. Eg. Pilot study by Nahas Z, Kozel FA, Li X, Anderson B, George MS.in 2003, which was negative. The investigators wish to assess this in a sham-controlled study of adults. The investigators hypothesise that both left and right sided rTMS will have an antidepressant effect superior to sham in this population.
The clinical study will collect data to verify the safety and performance of the Cook Celect Filter in the prevention of pulmonary embolism (PE) in patients with a temporary or permanent high risk of thromboembolism.
RATIONALE: Drugs used in chemotherapy, such as cytarabine, work in different ways to stop the growth of tumor cells, either by killing the cells or by stopping them from dividing. PURPOSE: This phase II trial is studying how well cytarabine works in treating young patients with recurrent or refractory Ewing's sarcoma.