View clinical trials related to Brain Neoplasms.
Filter by:A Study to Evaluate the Safety and Feasibility of Transcranial MRI-Guided Focused Ultrasound Surgery in the Treatment of Brain Tumors
This study aims to determine the safety and utility of using 5-Aminolevulinic Acid (ALA) in removing malignant brain tumors during surgery.
Some patients with brain tumors receive standard radiation to help prevent tumor growth. Although standard radiation kills tumor cells, it can also damage normal tissue in the process and lead to more side effects. This research study is looking at a different form of radiation called proton radiotherapy which helps spare normal tissues while delivering radiation to the tumor or tumor bed. Proton techniques irradiate 2-3 times less normal tissue then standard radiation. This therapy has been used in treatment of other cancers and information from those other research studies suggests that this therapy may help better target brain tumors then standard radiation.
Current tests to detect cancer, including CAT scans and MRI scans, are limited. PET scans use special dyes that are injected into a vein and can better localize possible cancer. The investigators have developed a new particle that can carry a radioactive dye to a very specific area of the tumor. When using a PET scan the radioactive dye can be viewed in areas of possible disease. This particle has been studied in mice and was safe. The particles will not treat the cancer and any images or information found during this study will not be used for your treatment. The information collected may be used to guide the design of future studies to detect and/or treat tumors.
The aim of this study is to follow up with all of the pediatric brain tumor patients who received proton beam radiation therapy at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) for which there is baseline neuropsychological testing in order to measure changes, if any, in neurobehavioral functioning (executive skills, emotional/behavioral functioning, and adaptive abilities) and their use of special education services at one year or more post-treatment. The investigators will also correlate neurobehavioral data with pertinent clinical information. Participation will be maximized through the use of mail-in, parental- and self-report questionnaires.
This phase II trial is studying how well gamma-secretase/Notch signalling pathway inhibitor RO4929097 works in treating patients with recurrent or progressive glioblastoma. Gamma-secretase/Notch signalling pathway inhibitor RO4929097 may stop the growth of tumor cells by blocking some of the enzymes needed for cell growth.
In recent years, remarkable advances in medical oncology, surgery, and radiology have allowed for increasing cure rates for childhood malignancies. This success has led to an emerging understanding of the kinds of effects that treatments can have on the pediatric population and how such effects can influence pediatric cancer survivor's functioning and quality of life. It has become tremendously important to assess the long-term complications due to therapy in this growing sector of survivors and to tailor our treatments so as to minimize these late effects. The Investigators at MGH are committed to improving the delivery of radiotherapy to our patients and improving the outcome for these patients. MGH has an on-site cyclotron for proton radiotherapy in order to provide the most advanced care for patients in need. Proton therapy possesses a clinical advantage over standard photon therapy in that its optimal dose distribution delivers the bulk of radiation to the tumor site. This method spares the greatest volume of normal tissue, resulting in decreased short-term and long-term morbidity. Through open pediatric protocols for patients treated with proton radiotherapy, the investigators aim to define and report the acute and late effects associated with treatment. The investigators also treat a number of patients off-protocol with both proton and photon radiotherapy, and are interested in reporting these patients' QOL outcomes in conjunction with other clinical data that may be pertinent to the site of tumor treatment. This research is significant in that it will allow us to delineate the positive and negative effects of radiation treatment on patients' QOL, highlighting points of success and exposing areas that are in need of improvement. Such knowledge will be used to improve the experience of pediatric cancer survivors in the future. The aims of this study are: 1) to prospectively collect and report the QOL outcomes in patients treated with radiotherapy and 2) to correlate the QOL data with pertinent clinical information.
Radiotherapy to the whole brain is standard treatment for cancer that has spread to the brain (brain metastases) as it treats both the metastases that can be seen on scans and the brain metastases that are too small to be seen on scans. This study will use a novel radiotherapy technique, called volumetric modulated arc therapy (VMAT), to treat patients with brain metastases. This technique allows delivery of both a standard radiation dose to the whole brain as well as a higher radiation dose to the brain metastases at the same time. The study will assess the effectiveness of using VMAT in treating brain metastases, and examine its potential side-effects.
Vorinostat in combination with radiation therapy can be administered safely and will be tolerated in patients with brain metastases, while providing an assessment of the anti-tumor activity of this combination. This is a multi-center, open-label, non-randomized Phase I study in patients with brain metastases. Patients will be administered oral Vorinostat and radiation therapy and will be treated for 3 weeks. Patients will be enrolled in cohorts and will be treated at sequentially rising dose levels of Vorinostat combined with radiation therapy. We will initially enter 3 subjects at each dose. If none of the three experiences a dose-limiting toxicity we will proceed to the next dose. If one of the three experiences that level of toxicity, we will accrue 3 more subjects at that dose. If at any time there are two or more dose-limiting toxicities (in the 3-6 subjects) on a given dose, we will drop down to a lower dose. Dose escalation will continue until the MTD of Vorinostat and radiation therapy is established. The MTD will then be one dose below the DLT occurring in at least 1 out of 3 subjects (2 out of 6 patients).
This phase II trial studies how well bendamustine hydrochloride works in treating patients with anaplastic glioma or glioblastoma that has come back (recurrent) or growing, spreading or getting worse (progressive). Drugs used in chemotherapy, such as bendamustine hydrochloride, work in different ways to stop the growth of tumor cells, either by killing the cells or by stopping them from dividing.