Cancer Clinical Trials in Chicago, IL

This Phase 1 study will assess the safety and efficacy (usefulness) of administering 2 doses of seasonal flu vaccine directly into breast cancer tissue (primary tumor), and will study the tumor and whole body response to the vaccine. If the tumor is palpable (able to fee by touch), the vaccine will be administered by a Surgeon/oncologist in the outpatient floor - both experienced and trained. If not palpable, the procedure will be done via guided Ultrasound by our Breast Radiologist -- both experienced and trained. Women with triple-negative (TNBC) and HER2+ types of breast cancer will be eligible for enrollment. Up to 18 subjects may be enrolled at Rush. Successive groups of 3 subjects per breast cancer type will be given increasing doses of vaccine. There are 3 potential dosing groups (half-dose, full dose, and high dose). Blood, stool (optional), and tumor tissue samples will be collected and tested. The active participation period is from one week prior to starting chemotherapy through three months post surgery. Read Less

The overarching goal is to prospectively recruit men considering active surveillance for treatment in the MAGIC (MRI And GPS Informing Choices for prostate cancer treatment) Cohort to provide meaningful data on active surveillance in Blacks and in men served in safety net hospitals. Recent studies highlight significant promise for multi-parametric magnetic resonance imaging of the prostate (MRI) and Genomic Prostate Score assay (GPS) as tools to help risk stratify men on active surveillance to identify men likely to harbor undetected aggressive disease in their prostate. Given the risk data provided by these modalities and the low adherence with monitoring common in men served in public hospitals, both tools may improve safety via improved patient selection and patient adherence with monitoring. The downside is that excessive testing may lead to too many false positives and unnecessary treatment. Two hundred men with very low to intermediate risk prostate cancer were randomized into the 2-arm ENACT Clinical trial from 2016-2019 to study the impact of the GPS assay on treatment choice. Overall, 104 men received GPS assay and 96 controls did not receive the assay (a confirmatory test) right after being newly diagnosed with favorable risk prostate cancer. For Aim 1, 222 men will be recruited into the MRI And GPS Informing Choices for prostate cancer treatment (MAGIC) study and they will be given the GPS assay and multi-parametric MRI of the prostate to provide personalized risk data for having aggressive tumors in their prostate. Between the ENACT and MAGIC study, there will be 3 groups of men who will have received both GPS & MRI, GPS alone, or neither test and can compare the impact of having 0,1 or 2 confirmatory tests on patient's adherence to active surveillance monitoring protocols over 18 months. The analyses will elucidate whether 1 or 2 tests are needed to improve adherence to monitoring. Monitoring is vital for detecting tumor progression early and avoiding cancer metastasis and death. In Aim 2, the MAGIC study cohort will be leveraged to determine the accuracy of the Genomic Prostate Score assay and the prostate imaging- reporting and data system (PIRADS) score from the MRI in predicting which tumors will progress in 18 months. Progression is defined as increased Gleason grade group (GG) or change in prostate digital rectal examination findings. This serves two purposes. It will allow doctors and patients to categorize the patient as safe or risky for active surveillance. Secondly, it will allow doctors to identify which men on active surveillance need to be followed with annual prostate biopsies and which men can have their biopsies deferred for 3-5 years to reduce the number of prostate biopsies and their morbidities. Lastly in Aim 3, the participants will rank the importance of these tests among a multitude of clinical, social, financial and interpersonal influences on their cancer treatment choice. By tallying the patient rankings, one can identify the most critical decision making factors that can be used to encourage increased selection of active surveillance. Read Less

Early detection by screening significantly reduces mortality from colorectal cancer (CRC). However, CRC screening rates have plateaued, with a considerable segment of the population remaining unscreened. Not being up to date with screening was associated with an approximate 3-fold risk for CRC-related mortality. There are different well-established CRC screening modalities, including invasive and non-invasive, which detect both polyps and cancer or cancer alone. Colonoscopy remains the dominant screening modality in the U.S.; however, colonoscopy uptake is low due to the invasiveness, perception of discomfort and embarrassment, logistical challenges, cost, and potential risks. Increasing patient compliance and adherence to screening is critical to improving CRC outcomes. A key to enhancing screening participation is patient acceptance of the testing method. A blood-based screening test presents an opportunity to overcome some challenging barriers. Blood-based tests are non-invasive compared to colonoscopy and can easily be part of a standard medical office appointment for a wellness check or scheduled visits to manage chronic illnesses and be completed at the point of care. This study will examine patient preference to use a blood-based screening test and compliance with CRC screening recommendations after failing to complete the FIT (Fecal Immunochemical Test)/FOBT (Fecal Occult Blood Test) or colonoscopy order in six months. Compliance with CRC screening is particularly poor among medically underserved populations, and most of these vulnerable individuals use federally qualified health centers (FQHCs) to obtain care. Implementing a blood-based screening test at FQHCs has the potential to improve CRC screening uptake and adherence and improve health disparities in medically underserved populations. This study seeks to answer the following four questions: 1) What is the acceptability of a blood-based screening as an alternative for patients who failed to complete a prior order using traditional screening methods? 2) Are patients who failed to comply with traditional screening methods more likely to comply with a blood-based screening test? 3) What is the effect of offering a blood-based screening test for patients who are non-compliance with traditional screening methods on overall CRC screening rates? 4) What are the facilitators and barriers to implementing the blood-based screening test in clinical settings? Read Less

Music therapy has become a standard palliative care service in many pediatric and adult hospitals; however, a majority of music therapy research has focused on the use of music to improve psychosocial dimensions of health, without considering biological dimensions. This study builds on prior work examining the psychosocial mechanisms of action underlying an Active Music Engagement (AME) intervention, designed to help manage emotional distress and improve positive health outcomes in young children with cancer and parents, by examining its effects on biomarkers of stress and immune function. The purposes of this two group, randomized controlled trial are to examine biological mechanisms of effect and dose-response relationships of AME on child/parent stress during the consolidation phase of Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL) treatment. Specific aims are to: Aim 1. Establish whether AME lowers child and parent cortisol during ALL treatment. Aim 2. Examine cortisol as a mediator of AME effects on child and parent outcomes during ALL treatment. Aim 3 (exploratory). Examine the dose-response relationship of AME on child and parent cortisol during ALL treatment. Findings will provide a more holistic understanding about how active music interventions work to mitigate cancer-related stress and its potential to improve immune function, with direct implications for the evidence-based use of music to improve health. Read Less

This trial will study different outreach methods to assess impact on enrollment of underrepresented minorities (specifically African Americans) to early phase cancer clinical treatment trials. Both patients and providers (those seeing enrolled patients) will be enrolled and receive the study interventions or no intervention (control arm). Read Less

Initial study to evaluate local control and the preferred method of attachment of the CivaSheet in the setting of suspected close or positive margins at the time of surgical tumor removal. Read Less

In the United States, carriers of hereditary genetic mutations have up to an 85% risk of developing breast cancer compared to 12% in the general population. Overall uptake of genetic services is generally low, particularly among high-risk African American (AA) women, who carry a disproportionate burden of breast cancer mortality. Further, although testing close relatives of individuals who test positive for a pathogenic variant might curtail breast cancer disparities attributable to hereditary risk, it is unclear how counseled or tested individuals influence their social and familial networks. Using a randomized control trial design, the objective of this research project is to test the effectiveness of a culturally targeted video, previously developed by our research team, on promoting genetic counseling attendance among AA women determined to be at high risk for breast cancer through cancer genetic risk assessment in a clinical setting. This study will also test how psychosocial factors (knowledge, intrinsic motivation, risk perception, and distress) impact the relationships between intervention exposures (video versus brochure) and compare the impact of intervention exposures on diffusion of knowledge about genetic counseling through social network analysis. Read Less

To determine the effect of low dose azacitidine therapy on tumor infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) in primary tumors from patients with high-risk early stage breast cancer, paired t-tests will be first used to compare TIL count in pre- and post-treatment specimens. Read Less

This research study is being done for 2 reasons: 1) The investigators want to learn about the eating, smoking and drinking habits of adults, 18 years of age and older, in various Chicago communities, and 2) the investigators want to offer screening for participants whose smoking and drinking habits put them at risk for cancer. Read Less

To determine whether nutritional optimization in head and neck cancer patients undergoing major surgery will decrease post-operative wound complications. The Investigators hypothesize that nutritional supplementation with Nestle Impact Advanced Recovery (AR) will decrease the rate of wound complications after surgery Read Less

The purpose of this study is to test an innovative MRI breast cancer screening method in women with mammographically dense breasts as well as other women with moderately increased cancer risk. MRI, combined with other methods of risk assessment, has potential to significantly improve sensitivity to cancer in dense breasts and detect cancer in all cases at a much earlier stage, with far fewer interval cancers than mammography. Previous tests of MRI sensitivity show that this screening could significantly increase the likelihood of detecting invasive cancers resulting in decreased mortality from breast cancer. Suspicious lesions will be defined by the clinical interpretation of the breast MRI images performed by the attending breast radiologists. Based on the radiologist determination that the MRI findings are suspicious (these findings include masses, non-mass enhancement and foci), suspicious lesions will be assigned a Bi-Rads code specifying whether additional work up or biopsy is necessary. These are Bi-Rads codes 0, 4 and 5. False positive diagnosis should be minimized as all attending physicians reading breast MRI at this institution are fellowship trained in breast imaging. Read Less

This phase III trial studies how well letrozole with or without paclitaxel and carboplatin works in treating patients with stage II-IV low-grade serous carcinoma of the ovary, fallopian tube, or peritoneum. Letrozole is an enzyme inhibitor that lowers the amount of estrogen made by the body which in turn may stop the growth of tumor cells that need estrogen to grow. Drugs used in chemotherapy, such as paclitaxel and carboplatin, work in different ways to stop the growth of tumor cells, either by killing the cells, by stopping them from dividing, or by stopping them from spreading. It is not yet known whether giving letrozole alone or in combination with paclitaxel and carboplatin works better in treating patients with low-grade serous carcinoma of the ovary, fallopian tube, or peritoneum compared to paclitaxel and carboplatin without letrozole. Read Less