There are about 2459 clinical studies being (or have been) conducted in New Zealand. 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.
This research trial studies neuropsychological (learning, remembering or thinking) and behavioral outcomes in children and adolescents with cancer by collecting information over time from a series of tests.
Cyclophosphamide is widely used in the treatment of cancer and autoimmune diseases such as lupus nephritis. However, there is considerable variability in the response to cyclophosphamide treatment. Cyclophosphamide is a pro-drug that requires initial activation by CYP liver enzymes. Recent clinical studies have indicated a possible role of one CYP enzyme, CYP2C19 in this activation step. This enzyme has a genetic polymorphism (variants which lack functional activity) and people who have inherited these variants are poor metabolisers of certain drugs. The aim of this study is to determine whether response to therapy in a New Zealand population of lupus nephritis patients is determined by cyclophosphamide bioactivation (the metabolic phenotype) and CYP genotype. Currently there is no way of predicting a patient's response to cyclophosphamide. An understanding of the factors which contribute to the therapeutic failure in lupus nephritis is particularly important due to the high morbidity and mortality associated with this disease. There are other treatment options for lupus nephritis patients who fail to respond to cyclophosphamide. If successful, this study may help identify patients who are unlikely to respond to cyclophosphamide and thus should not be unnecessarily be exposed to the drug and may justify the use of newer, more costly immunosuppressive drugs such as mycophenolate mofetil and rituximab.
Pterygium excision surgery involves excising the abnormal growth from the cornea and filling the defect with a conjunctival (white of the eye) graft from the superior part of the eye. This is the best method of pterygium excision but it is recognised that in 10-15% of cases it will grow back (recurrence). Currently the investigators use small sutures to sew the graft in place. Recently it has been described that glue can be used instead of the sutures. It has been shown in one study that the patient discomfort is less and so is the surgical time. The investigators want to confirm these findings and also compare the recurrence rate between the two types of surgery. They plan to complete a prospective, randomised, control trial of 40 participants. Twenty will have traditional pterygium surgery with the conjunctival autograft sutured. Twenty will have cut and paste surgery with Tisseel glue. The two groups of participants will be compared for pain and discomfort, surgery time, and recurrence rate of the pterygia.
This study will determine whether laparoscopic and open hernia repair have the same recurrence and complication rates in the under 60yr old age group. The overall financial costs of each repair will also be compared.
The main purpose of the Product Performance Report (formerly referred to as System Longevity Study) is to evaluate long-term performance of Medtronic market-released cardiac rhythm products by analyzing product survival probabilities.
In the past, nutritional management formed the cornerstone of treatment of type 2 diabetes (T2DM). More recently, this aspect of treatment has received less attention as drug therapy aimed not only to lower glucose, but also to treat raised blood pressure and blood fats (including cholesterol) has been more widespread. While there is evidence to suggest that blood pressure and blood fat levels have improved, overall diabetes control has not and people with diabetes appear to be becoming progressively more overweight, following trends in the general population. The proposed study involves a randomised controlled trial in which people with T2DM continuing with their regular drug treatment and surveillance, will be randomly allocated to additionally receive intensive advice regarding diet or remain on their usual treatment in this regard. The results will be judged principally in terms of body weight, waist circumference, blood pressure, blood glucose control and blood fats.
RATIONALE: Androgens can cause the growth of prostate cancer cells. Androgen deprivation therapy may stop the adrenal glands from making androgens. PURPOSE: This randomized phase III trial is studying how well androgen deprivation therapy works in treating patients with prostate cancer.
RATIONALE: Drugs used in chemotherapy use different ways to stop tumor cells from dividing so they stop growing or die. Radiation therapy uses high-energy x-rays to damage tumor cells. Peripheral stem cell transplantation may allow the doctor to give higher doses of chemotherapy and kill more tumor cells. It is not yet known if combination chemotherapy is more effective with or without radiation therapy and/or surgery in treating Ewing's sarcoma. PURPOSE: This randomized phase III trial is studying different combination chemotherapy regimens to see how well they work when given with or without peripheral stem cell transplantation, radiation therapy, and/or surgery in treating patients with Ewing's sarcoma.