View clinical trials related to Digestive System Neoplasms.
Filter by:The purpose of this study is the examination of Mapisal® versus urea hand-foot cream as prophylaxis for capecitabine-induced hand-foot syndrome (HFS) in patients with gastrointestinal tumors or breast cancer, to assess the efficacy of Mapisal®. Mapisal® is a medical device that is approved for the prophylaxis and treatment of HFS. Initial clinical data and case studies on the treatment and prophylaxis of Caelyx-induced HFS have been impressive. Because the pathomechanism of HFS caused by capecitabine is the same as for Caelyx-induced HFS, it is expected reason that administering Mapisal® should result in a significant reduction of HFS caused by capecitabine. The urea hand-foot cream was selected for the standard arm, because it is used commonly, is accepted by patients, and seems to have a positive influence on the severity of the HFS in the experience of many oncologists.
This is a phase I study designed to determine the feasibility of transplantation using a novel transplant approach that employs a two-stage haploidentical cell infusion following myeloablative conditioning. This strategy, which includes selective depletion of naïve T cells, may speed immune reconstitution thereby potentially reducing the limitations of traditional haploidentical hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) and increasing its potential therapeutic application. Additionally, the investigators intend to explore overall survival, event-free survival, hematopoietic cell recovery and engraftment as well as infection rates and complications in these patients.
Background: - Mithramycin is a drug that was first tested as a cancer therapy in the 1960s. It acted against some forms of cancer, but was never accepted as a treatment. Research suggests that it may be useful against some cancers of the chest, such as lung and esophageal cancer or mesothelioma. Researchers want to see if mithramycin can be used to treat these types of cancer. Objectives: - To see if mithramycin is safe and effective against different chest cancers. Eligibility: - Individuals at least 18 years of age who have lung, esophagus, pleura, or mediastinum cancers. Design: - Participants will be screened with a physical exam and medical history. Blood and urine samples will be collected. Imaging studies and tumor tissue samples will be used to monitor the cancer before treatment. - Participants will receive mithramycin every day for 7 days, followed by 7 days without treatment. Each 14-day round of treatment is called a cycle. - Treatment will be monitored with frequent blood tests and imaging studies. - Participants will continue to take the drug for as long as the side effects are not severe and the tumor responds to treatment.
Communication is an important component of comprehensive cancer care impacting patient satisfaction, adherence, and quality of life. The wide array of issues addressed in cancer clinical interactions makes communicating about a broad range of topics (including quality of life, communication, symptom control, complementary/alternative therapies, costs, treatment burden, prognosis, anxiety, side-effects, sexual function, palliative care options, etc.) especially interesting and potentially challenging. Some of these topics may not be routinely addressed in the clinical interaction or may require consultative support from other members of the comprehensive cancer care team. One frequently overlooked critical element in research on communication between cancer clinicians, their patients, and their primary care clinicians is describing real-time consultations between patients and their clinicians. These interactions provide rich material for assessing key psycho-social dynamics and identifying issues that patients find important in their care. In order to devise systems of care that optimize the patient experience, it is critical that clinicians and researchers understand, appreciate, and systematically characterize the richness and complexity of the decision-making process in routine cancer consultations between cancer patients and their treating clinicians. This study seeks to assess the patient experience in cancer care by observing patients and their physicians in their clinical interactions and following them for several months to see how their care went. By describing in-depth the conversations and experiences of patients in these clinical interactions, this study will lay the foundation for practice-based interventions to optimize patients' interactions with their cancer care teams.
The underlying hypothesis of the synergistic activity of octreotide and everolimus is based on the combination of a) a direct action of everolimus over mTOR (mammalian target of rapamycin), and b) the inhibitory effect of octreotide on the IGF-I (insulin like growth factor 1) system preventing the activation of the mTOR system by this factor. Both types of inhibition would completely cancel this signal transduction pathway, which is so important in neuroendocrine tumours. Furthermore, the biological study proposed in this protocol will allow for better establishing the relationship between the activation of the IGFR-PI3K-mTOR signal transduction pathway (i.e., the mTOR pathway stimulated by IGFR) and treatment response; this information is relevant since the IGFR-PI3K-mTOR activation status could be a response prediction factor. This study will provide significant additional information about the efficacy of the combination treatment of everolimus with octreotide LAR® in non-functioning GI NET.
Transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) is widely used for unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). However, the hypoxia caused by TACE in surviving tumor cell leads to release of angiogenic and growth factors contributing to poor outcome. Sorafenib can block tumor cell proliferation and angiogenesis. The hypothesis is that patients with unresectable HCC may benefit from sorafenib in combination with TACE.
Malnutrition occurs in up to 50% of patients requiring elective surgery for neoplastic diseases. It exerts a detrimental influence on outcome of surgery, because it can suppress immune function, exaggerate stress response and cause organ system dysfunction. Increased susceptibility to infection, protracted wound healing, impaired blood clotting and vessel wall fragility have been shown to be the leading causes of postoperative morbidity and mortality in malnourished patients undergoing major surgical resections. This trial is designed as a prospective randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled pilot study in a academic single center in Switzerland. A total of 50 malnourished patients with gastro-intestinal tumors will receive orally glutamine or placebo-treatment during a period of 5 days prior to surgery. The investigators hypothesize that oral Glutamine administration is feasible, well tolerated, will decrease postoperative morbidity, will suppress postoperative cell damage and inflammatory response, and will improve the perioperative immunocompetence of the patients.
Resveratrol has been shown to activate a protein called Notch-1. Signaling of Notch-1 has been shown to prevent tumor cell growth. Resveratrol has also been shown to prevent growth of tumors in mice. The purpose of this study is to examine the effects of resveratrol and Notch-1 on neuroendocrine tumor tissue and to examine how people with neuroendocrine tumors who take resveratrol for up to three months tolerate the product.
This is a single-arm, open-label, phase I study of combination therapy with SOM 230 and FOLFIRI. We will utilize a sequential dose-escalation design to define the maximum tolerated dose (MTD) of SOM 230 when combined with standard doses of FOLFIRI.
Purpose/Goal: To investigate how long course radiation therapy (RT), both with or without chemotherapy, affects the immune system, and to determine if acupuncture can modify these effects in patients undergoing curative radiation therapy for gastrointestinal (GI) or genitourinary (GU) cancers. Clinical or Research Questions: 1. Does RT reduce immune biomarkers in treated subjects? 2. Which biomarkers are most affected by treatment? 3. Is acupuncture a feasible option to help ameliorate any biomarker effects? 4. Does RT affect subject symptoms? 5. Is acupuncture a feasible option to help ameliorate any symptom effects?