Maryland Paid Clinical Trials

Background: - Some genes may be associated with a greater chance of side effects during cancer treatment. These genes may also make certain treatments less effective. Researchers want to collect blood or cheek swab samples from people having cancer treatment to study these genes. Objectives: - To obtain a blood or cheek swab sample to study genetic differences that may affect cancer treatment. Eligibility: - Individuals with cancer who are being treated at the National Cancer Institute. Design: * Participants will provide a blood sample for study. * Participants who have blood-based cancer, such as leukemia, will provide a cheek swab sample. * If the blood or cheek swab sample does not have enough genetic material for analysis, an additional sample may be collected. Read Less

Background: -Sjogren s Disease (formerly: Sjogrens Syndrome, Sj(SqrRoot)(Delta)gren s syndrome) is a disease that affects about 1-4 million Americans. It is more common in women. It mainly affects the glands that produce saliva and tears, leading to dry eyes and dry mouth. The cause of Sjogren s Disease is unknown, but inflammation plays an important role. The purpose of this study is to learn more about Sjogren s Disease. Objectives: -To better understand how Sjogren s Disease begins and how it affects patients so that we can develop better ways to treat them. Eligibility: * Participants must be 16 years of age or older. * They must have a diagnosis of Sjogren s Disease or have at least two symptoms of Sjogren s Disease. Design: * People taking part in the study will come to the NIH Clinical Center for at least three visits. * During these visits, participants will have a medical history and physical exam. They will have oral and dental assessments, and saliva collection. Lab tests (blood and urine) and dry eye exams will be done. Participants will answer questionnaires and have salivary scintigraphy (adults only unless required for diagnosis). * Other optional tests may also be done. Participants may have to come in for additional visits if they have these optional tests or if their disease changes. * The only treatment provided as part of this study is for medical emergencies or complications that occur while you are at NIH for evaluation. Read Less

Background: - Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease that affects numerous people worldwide. Researchers are interested in actively recruiting individuals with TB for research and treatment studies. Objectives: - To collect blood and other samples to study the natural history of tuberculosis. Eligibility: - Individuals 2 years of age and older who have either active or latent tuberculosis. Design: * Latent TB patients: Participants will have a single study visit with a physical examination and medical history, and will provide blood samples for testing. * Active TB patients: Participants will have an initial visit with a physical examination and medical history, and will provide blood samples for testing. Participants will also provide sputum samples if required, and may have an optional skin punch biopsy to collect a sample of skin tissue for study. * Treatment for active TB will be provided as part of this protocol. * Active TB participants may be asked to return for study visits every 1-2 months while receiving treatment.... Read Less

Background: - Increased clinical attention has been paid to the evaluation and management of bioterrorism-related illness (such as anthrax infection) and emerging infectious diseases (such as Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome \[SARS\] and new strains of influenza). However, evaluation and treatment data for these illnesses are often limited because human infections to date have been relatively limited. Further knowledge about diseases of bioterrorism concern and emerging infectious diseases may lead to more effective forms of therapy to prevent disease-related illnesses and deaths. Objectives: - To apply standardized, documented, and carefully monitored evaluation and treatment methods for bioterrorism- and biodefense-related illnesses and emerging infectious diseases at the National Institutes of Health Clinical Center. Eligibility: * Individuals at least 2 years of age who have confirmed or suspected infection by a biodefense or bioterrorism agent, or an emerging infectious disease agent. * Individuals at least 2 years of age who have confirmed or suspected exposure to a biodefense or bioterrorism agent, an emerging infectious disease agent, or who have close exposure to an individual who is suspected of being infected with one of these agents. * Health care workers who are involved in medical treatment of the abovementioned infected or exposed individuals. Design: * All eligible persons will have an initial screening evaluation to determine the circumstances of possible infectious exposure (e.g., where, when, and how exposed), current medical condition and medical care given, and any aspects of medical history that might be relevant to the exposure. * Participants may be seen in an outpatient clinic or in the Special Clinical Studies Unit (SCSU) at the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The NIH SCSU is a hospital ward specially designed to minimize the risk of spreading infection to others. * Upon admission, participants will provide blood and urine samples, have an electrocardiogram to measure heart activity, and have specific tests or procedures associated with the particular infectious agent. * Participants who develop illnesses will be treated with the standard of care for known diseases or with experimental measures, depending on the nature of the illness. Separate consent may be required for these treatments. * Participants will remain on this study for at least 1 year following the period of active evaluation and treatment. Participants may be asked to come to the NIH outpatient clinic on a periodic basis for medical evaluations and blood tests, and may be asked to keep a diary card to record any unusual signs or symptoms of possible infection. Read Less

Background: The NCI Surgery Branch has developed an experimental therapy that involves taking white blood cells from patients' tumors, growing them in the laboratory in large numbers, and then giving the cells back to the patient. These cells are called Tumor Infiltrating Lymphocytes, or TIL and we have given this type of treatment to over 200 patients with melanoma. Researchers want to know if TIL shrink s tumors in people with digestive tract, urothelial, breast, or ovarian/endometrial cancers. In this study, we are selecting a specific subset of white blood cells from the tumor that we think are the most effective in fighting tumors and will use only these cells in making the tumor fighting cells. Objective: The purpose of this study is to see if these specifically selected tumor fighting cells can cause digestive tract, urothelial, breast, or ovarian/endometrial tumors to shrink and to see if this treatment is safe. Eligibility: - Adults age 18-72 with upper or lower gastrointestinal, hepatobiliary, genitourinary, breast, ovarian/endometrial cancer, or glioblastoma refractory to standard chemotherapy. Design: Work up stage: Patients will be seen as an outpatient at the NIH clinical Center and undergo a history and physical examination, scans, x-rays, lab tests, and other tests as needed. Surgery: If the patients meet all of the requirements for the study they will undergo surgery to remove a tumor that can be used to grow the TIL product. Leukapheresis: Patients may undergo leukapheresis to obtain additional white blood cells. (Leukapheresis is a common procedure, which removes only the white blood cells from the patient.) Treatment: Once their cells have grown, the patients will be admitted to the hospital for the conditioning chemotherapy, the TIL cells and aldesleukin. They will stay in the hospital for about 4 weeks for the treatment. Follow up: Patients will return to the clinic for a physical exam, review of side effects, lab tests, and scans about every 1-3 months for the first year, and then every 6 months to 1 year as long as their tumors are shrinking. Follow up visits will take up to 2 days. Read Less

The influence of genes on addictive and neuropsychiatric disorders is complex, especially given that multiple genes likely influence certain behaviors that are correlated with addiction. Researchers are interested in looking at the genetic information of individuals who are enrolled on National Institute for Drug Abuse studies to investigate specific genetic variants that may be related to substance abuse. Researchers will study the effects of genes on several aspects of thinking such as attention, memory, decision making, problem solving, learning, and emotional feelings, and investigate the ways in which genetic information affects addictive behaviors and substance abuse. In addition, researchers will study how genes may explain differences in imaging data in substance users. Objectives: - To collect genetic information for research on genetic aspects of addiction and substance abuse. Eligibility: * Adults age 18 or older * (1) healthy, non-drug-using nonsmokers, * (2) healthy smokers, * (3) healthy individuals dependent on other commonly abused drugs, and * (4) individuals with other psychiatric disorders. * Participants must be enrolled in another National Institute on Drug Abuse, Intramural Research Program imaging protocol. Design: * This study involves one to two visits to National Institute on Drug Abuse, Intramural Research Program that may be separate from the participant's current research protocol study visits or on the same day as those visits. * Participants will provide a blood sample and complete questionnaires about mood, memory, and learning. * Participants may also be asked to do a few tasks, such as playing computer games involving coin tosses and money management, or responding to questions on a computer screen. Read Less

Background: - Functional and structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) techniques have allowed researchers to map and study how the brain works when at rest and when engaged in specific tasks. MRI scans have provided more information about how drugs affect the brain, and about how drug addiction changes the brain and influences behavior, mood, and thinking processes. To better understand the underlying mechanism of drug addiction and to develop strategies for more effective treatment, researchers are interested in developing new MRI techniques to study the effects of addiction on the brain. Objectives: - To develop new functional and structural MRI techniques, and to evaluate their potential use in brain imaging studies related to addiction. Eligibility: * Individuals between 18 and 80 years of age. * Participants may be smokers or nonsmokers, and may use drugs or not use drugs. Design: * During the initial screening, participants will complete questionnaires about family and personal history, drug use, and other information as required by the researchers. Participants who will be asked to complete tasks during the MRI scan will be shown how to perform these tasks before the scanning session. * Before each study session, participants may be asked to complete some or all of the following: questions about their drug use during the last week, a breathalyzer test, a urine drug-use assessment, a urine pregnancy test, or a measure of carbon monoxide. Participants will also provide blood samples before the start of the scan. * For each scanning session, participants will have an MRI scan that will last approximately 2 hours. * MRI scans may include specific tasks to be performed during the scan, or an experiment that studies the brain's response to carbon dioxide. Read Less

The Hematology Branch of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute is doing a variety of laboratory research experiments that require blood and tissue samples from healthy volunteers. This protocol provides a mechanism for collecting these tissue samples. Research includes studies of normal and abnormal formation of blood cells, viral blood diseases, the role of the immune system in marrow failure and genetic risk factors for aplastic anemia. Healthy normal volunteers 8 years of age and older may be eligible for this study. Samples are collected as follows: * Blood samples: Participants 8 years of age and older donate up to 4 tablespoons of blood, which is obtained from a needle placed in an arm vein. * Participants 8 years of age and older donate a buccal mucosa sample (cells from the inside of the cheek). The inside of the cheek is scraped gently with a nylon brush. * Participants 18 years of age and older donate a bone marrow sample. The bone marrow is obtained from the hip bone. The skin over the area is wiped clean with alcohol and iodine, and then a local anesthetic is injected under the skin and also into the bone. When the area is numb, a bone marrow aspiration needle is introduced through the bone surface into the marrow. The marrow cells are collected using a syringe connected to the needle. Read Less

The purpose of this protocol is to allow for the careful evaluation of healthy volunteers and individuals with risk for psychiatric disorders or neurodevelopmental disorders, such as autism spectrum disorder for specific protocols at NIH.... Read Less

This study will use magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) to measure in the brain the transfer of \[13\]C as it is naturally metabolized from glucose to specific chemical transmitters. From this method, we can measure the rate of production of an important excitatory neurotransmitter (glutamate) as well as an inhibitory neurotransmitter (GABA). Read Less

This study has four objectives: 1) to provide investigators the opportunity to study bone specimens from patients with various skeletal diseases; 2) to treat patients with skeletal diseases at the NIH; 3) to expose NIH trainees to certain skeletal diseases; and 4) to gain more knowledge about skeletal diseases and stimulate further study of bone biology. Anyone with a disease that affects the skeleton may be eligible for this study. All evaluations, tests, procedures and treatments given study participants are used in the standard care of skeletal diseases. No experimental evaluations or treatments are offered. Patient evaluations include a medical history, review of medical records and routine physical examination. Based on the findings, other procedures may be recommended, including blood tests, urine tests, and imaging tests, such as X-rays, bone densitometry, bone scan, computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Bone specimens from participants will be collected for research use. Specimens will be obtained from bone removed during a patient s planned surgical procedure performed for medical care, or patients may be requested to have a bone biopsy removal of a small piece of bone tissue as part of the patient evaluation procedure. Read Less

This study will explore the causes of rheumatic diseases and why many of them affect certain minority communities more severely. Rheumatic diseases may cause joint pain, stiffness or swelling. Some can involve bones, muscles, tendons or ligaments. Some cause abnormalities of the immune system-the body s defense against disease. Some rheumatic diseases are painful or deforming and some can be life threatening. Information obtained from this study will be used to learn about the disparities in rheumatic disease in the minority community and to design further, more targeted, research studies to address this issue. Patients with known or suspected rheumatic disease 18 years of age or older may be eligible for this study. Candidates will undergo a medical history and physical examination to confirm the diagnosis of rheumatic disease and determine what is needed for evaluation and treatment. Participants will receive standard medical care for rheumatic disease and arthritis. No experimental treatments, medications or procedures will be included in this study. Procedures may include routine blood tests for blood chemistries, cell counts, and antibodies commonly found in patients with rheumatic disease; a urine test for proteins and cells; and X-rays and other imaging tests to check for abnormalities in the lungs or other organs. All medical information will be kept confidential. Patients who are found to be eligible for other current NIH research studies will be offered an opportunity to participate in these studies. Read Less