All Clinical Trials in Canada

This pilot study will evaluate the feasibility and safety of using 1:1 tetrahydrocannabinol (THC):Cannabidiol (CBD) cannabis oil as an adjunct therapy to methadone-based Opioid Agonist Therapy (OAT) for individuals with opioid use disorder (OUD) in a community setting. Read Less

This is a prospective study that is the first to implement resect and discard and diagnose and leave strategies in real-time practice using stringent documentation and adjudication by 2 expert endoscopists as the gold standard. The primary aim of this study is to show the accuracy of intracolonoscopy AI-assisted optical diagnosis (CADx; autonomous or with human input) when the AI-assisted optical diagnosis made by the expert endoscopists is used as the reference standard. The specific aims are: 1. To evaluate the accuracy of intracolonoscopy AI-assisted optical polyp diagnosis (autonomous or with human input) by comparing it to the obtained optical histology diagnoses provided by two independent expert endoscopists as the reference standard. 2. To evaluate the agreement between the intracolonoscopy AI-assisted optical polyp diagnosis (autonomous or with human input) and the AI-assisted optical diagnosis performed by two independent expert endoscopists. 3. To determine whether AI-assisted optical polyp diagnosis for diminutive (1-5 mm) polyps can be implemented in routine clinical practice by demonstrating that at least 70% of the approached patients are interested in undergoing AI-assisted optical diagnosis (autonomous or with human input). 4. To evaluate the cost savings resulting from replacing pathology with AI-assisted optical diagnosis. Read Less

Patients undergoing thyroid biopsy under local anesthetic will be asked to fill out a questionnaire that evaluates their anxiety level before and after their procedure. Patients will be randomly assigned to either use an anxiety reducing tool (stress balls in each hand) to take their mind off the procedure or will not receive an anxiety reducing tool. Read Less

The goal of this observational study is to establish a video/image library dataset of complete endoscopy or partial colonoscopy procedures for patients with rectal cancer or inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). With this video/image library, the aims are: * to develop and validate novel AI-empowered solutions to automatically detect and report endoscopy quality metrics * to develop automated endoscopy reporting solutions, auditing, and educational tools for residents and fellows to enhance their endoscopy skills. The hypothesis is that a heterogeneous video/image library will provide: * comprehensive and robust source material to develop AI models * real-time quality feedback at the end of an endoscopy procedure. Read Less

Cancer continues to have the dubious honor of being the leading cause of premature mortality in Canada. The good news is, advances in early detection and cancer treatments are extending the lives of those diagnosed with the disease. However, as more people are living longer, the impact of the therapies used to treat the disease are becoming increasingly apparent. Ranging from the physiological to psychological, cancer survivors are often confronted with substantial, disabling, and life-threatening consequences. The benefits of physical activity (all movement) and exercise more specifically have long been established as a means of prevention and treatment of chronic disease. Several recent reviews and meta-analyses have demonstrated that exercise is a safe and effective means of preventing and improving a multitude of physical and psychological treatment and disease-related sequelae across the cancer trajectory. For example, we know that cancer survivors who exercise not only have a reduced risk of disease recurrence and cancer mortality, but also have reduced acute/late effects of their cancer and/or its treatment such as anxiety, depression, and cancer-related pain. Regrettably, despite our substantial knowledge base, the majority of cancer survivors are not sufficiently active to realize these benefits over the long-term. Moreover, even with the development of evidence-based guidelines, exercise has not yet been widely implemented as a standard of care in the oncology setting largely due to a lack of resources, exercise expertise, and awareness of benefits. Continuing to provide cancer care with little guidance and understanding of the benefits of exercise places cancer survivors at an increased risk for recurrence, late effects, and/or onset of additional co-morbidities, and premature mortality. Therefore, it is important to consider best practices that will optimize and improve quality of survival. Building on the ongoing work of our Alberta-based colleagues and the Alberta Cancer Exercise (ACE) Program (an evidence-based clinic-to-community cancer exercise model), Activating Cancer Communities through an Exercise Strategy for Survivors (ACCESS) is designed to bridge the gap between research and practice and in doing so, lessen the impact of a cancer diagnosis and its treatment(s) on the physical and psychological well-being of cancer survivors. Read Less

This is a multicenter, open-label, non-randomized, phase II clinical trial conducted in Canada. The purpose of the study is to determine the remission rate of acalabrutinib in combination with R-CHOP in patients with previously untreated mantle cell lymphoma prior to autologous stem cell transplantation. This study is composed of 2 cohorts, A and B. In Cohort A all patients will receive six cycles of R-CHOP chemotherapy together with continuous acalabrutinib at the standard dose twice per day orally. All patients will undergo response assessment at the end of six cycles of R-CHOP + acalabrutinib with CT scan, PET/CT scan, and bone marrow biopsy. Responding patients will proceed with stem cell mobilization, apheresis, and processing. Following ASCT, patients will receive standard maintenance rituximab every 3 months for 2 years. Enrollment for Cohort A component of the study has been completed. Cohort B, involves using acalabrutinib with R-CHOP (same as Group A) but without an autologous stem cell transplant (ASCT) as part of the regimen. The study doctors hope to evaluate how participants respond to the treatment in terms of the time between treatment initiation and time when stable disease is achieved. The enrollment for cohort B is currently ongoing. Read Less

Injection of Botox into the bladder is a procedure used to treat neurogenic overactive bladder at the Dianne and Irving Kipnes Urology Centre in the Kaye Edmonton Clinic. A common complication following bladder Botox is bladder infection. There are no well-studied preventative antibiotics given at the time of bladder Botox for the reduction of post-operative bladder infection. We are proposing a research study that will randomize participants into two groups - one receiving antibiotics and the other receiving placebo pills following bladder Botox. The main goal of our study is to determine if preventative antibiotics at the time of bladder Botox injection reduces post-operative bladder infection. It will provide a valuable learning opportunity for a trainee starting their academic career through working closely with established researchers across two disciplines. We hope the results of our study can ultimately be used to improve outcomes and safety for a common Urologic procedure. In addition, findings from our study could help reduce unnecessary use of antibiotics resulting in cost savings in the health care system and reduction in the risk of antibiotic resistance. Read Less

The goal of this clinical trial is to test a new one-handed video game controller adapter to determine if it helps improve how video games are played and enjoyed in children with an upper limb difference on one side. The main questions it aims to answer are: * Is performance improved while playing video games with the adapter? * Is user satisfaction or enjoyment improved while playing video games with the adapter? Participants will: * Answer questions about their limb difference and other demographics * Be interviewed about their current and past video game playing experiences * Learn how to use the adapter and have their performance with it evaluated * Take the adapter home to use for 1 week, and be asked to record their experiences * Have their performance with the adapter re-evaluated after a week of practice * Be interviewed about their experience with the adapter Read Less

The working hypotheses are as follows: #1 The processing of performance signals by automated lognormal segmentation and the extraction of the parameters of interest will make it possible to distinguish groups of patients from healthy elderly subjects. #2 The three instrumental approaches will not have the same degree of reliability as a predictive biomarker of clinical diagnosis established by consensus. Read Less

The ASPIRE study is a Phase III randomized, single-center study designed to evaluate whether adaptive stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT) offers superior clinical benefits compared to standard image-guided SBRT for patients with localized prostate cancer. It aims to explore whether adaptive SBRT can improve urinary outcomes while maintaining effective cancer control. This interventional study is randomized, single-institution, and includes 320 participants with localized prostate cancer. Patients will be stratified based on fractionation schedules (5 vs. 7 fractions), use of rectal spacers, androgen deprivation therapy (ADT), and baseline alpha receptor antagonist use. Participants will be randomized to receive either adaptive SBRT or standard image-guided SBRT, with both arms adhering to established dosing protocols. Inclusion criteria includes an age greater than 18 years, diagnosed with localized prostate adenocarcinoma, and an ECOG performance status of 0-1, Eligible for prostate SBRT. The exclusion criteria includes patients who plan for elective nodal irradiation and contraindications to radiotherapy or MRI (for MR-Linac patients). Read Less

Thromboprophylaxis for pancreatic surgery can be commenced either preoperatively or postoperatively. Despite a clear trade-off between thrombosis and bleeding in pancreatic surgery patients, there is no international consensus when thrombosis prophylaxis should be commenced in patients undergoing pancreatic surgery. There are no prospective randomized trials in this field, and current guidelines are unfortunately based on very low quality evidence, that is, a few retrospective studies and expert opinion. Both American and European thromboprophylaxis guidelines for abdominal cancer surgery support the preoperative initiation of thromboprophylaxis, but these guidelines do not specifically address the increased bleeding risk associated with pancreatic surgery. On the contrary, Dutch guidelines recommend postoperative thromboprophylaxis only, because of lack of evidence for preoperative thromboprophylaxis. Enhanced Recovery After Surgery (ERAS) Society Guidelines recommend preoperative thromboprophylaxis in pancreatic surgery, but the guidelines provide no supporting evidence for this recommendation. Overall, the amount of evidence is scarce and somewhat contradictory in this clinically relevant field of thromboprophylaxis in pancreatic surgery. The aim of this study is to compare pre- and postoperatively initiated thromboprophylaxis regimens in pancreatic surgery in a randomized controlled trial. Read Less

Background: Autoimmune hepatitis (AIH) is a rare chronic and lifelong liver disease. Untreated, disease progresses to end-stage cirrhosis and the focus of therapy is with immunosuppression. Current therapies are limited, not targeted, and associated with side effects that patients report reduce quality of life. AIH is believed to arise as a consequence of genetic \& environmental risks. Disease is characterised by impaired immunoregulation, that favours a chronic and relapsing hepatitis. As well as recognising an important role for cytotoxic T cells and regulatory T cells, it has become apparent that in AIH, as well as other related autoimmune conditions, that B-cells are important. AIH is characterised by a plasma cell rich interface hepatitis and elevated IgG concentrations. Furthermore B-cell lineages interact with regulatory T-cells. Off-label use of Rituximab, an anti-CD20 agent, has been described for patients with AIH. A number of other ways of effectively targeting B-cells in the treatment of related autoimmune diseases have also been developed, but there have been limited studies in people living with autoimmune hepatitis. Belimumab is a human monoclonal antibody that inhibits B-cell activating factor (BAFF), also known as B-lymphocyte stimulator. It is approved in the Canada to treat systemic lupus erythematosus and lupus nephritis. It has not been studied before in AIH, but off-label reports are published. In an open-label clinical trial of people living with autoimmune hepatitis, the investigator will now formally study the effect of adding Belimumab to existing standard of care, with the goal being to evaluate treatment efficacy, the ability to reduce the burden of existing therapies whilst still controlling AIH disease, and to describe the tolerability \& safety of Belimumab in people with AIH. Study Design: Open label, multi-centre, Canadian clinical trial. Patient population: Patients with autoimmune hepatitis, excluding patients with decompensated liver disease, who either have active disease despite standard of care (Group A), or who are maintained with disease remission using standard of care therapy (Group B). 48 patients will be recruited. Intervention: Weekly sub-cutaneous Belimumab. Duration: 72 weeks with interim analysis after 24 patients have been treated for 24 weeks; target recruitment 48 patients. Evaluation: Safety, Serum liver tests, quality of life, exploratory immunologic biomarkers, optional liver biopsy or fine needle liver aspirate. Primary end-point: Group A: 50% or more of subjects have an ALT\<2x ULN \& corticosteroids at a dose of \</= 5mg of Prednisone (or equivalent); Group B: 50% or more of subjects able to maintain remission (normal ALT, normal IgG) on monotherapy with Belimumab. Conclusion: Using a combination of makers of treatment efficacy and safety the investigator will test the hypothesis that Belimumab should be further formally evaluated for people living with AIH. Read Less