Massachusetts Paid Clinical Trials

The goal of this study is to complete a pilot study testing the feasibility and acceptability of low-intensity pulse-based transcranial stimulation (LIP-tES) neurofeedback intervention for reducing photosensitivity symptoms in Veterans with a history of mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI). The study will also complete resting-state MRI scans to assess neurophysiological markers of photosensitivity and changes associated with LIP-tES intervention. Read Less

The researchers are doing this study to find out whether enasidenib is a safe treatment for people with angioimmunoblastic T-cell lymphoma (AITL) that has an IDH2 mutation. The researchers will look at the safety of enasidenib when it is given alone or in combination with the drug rituximab. Read Less

Heart disease and diabetes are leading causes of death and disability in the US, especially among Veterans. Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a disabling condition that also affects many Veterans. New research suggests that PTSD further increases the risk of developing heart disease and diabetes. What causes this increased risk is unknown. However, individuals with PTSD are often less physically active and make more unhealthy dietary choices than individuals without PTSD. Maintaining a physically active lifestyle, staying physically fit, and eating a healthy diet may be important for reducing the PTSD related risk for heart disease, diabetes and disability. The proposed research seeks to assess how important these lifestyle factors are for reducing the risk of heart disease, diabetes and disability in Veterans with and without PTSD. A better understanding of these lifestyle factors and cardiometabolic health in Veterans will help to clarify how lifestyle interventions can best be applied to the prevention and treatment of long-term disability in Veterans. Aim 1: To examine physical activity participation as a mechanism linking PTSD to cardiometabolic health and functioning in post-9/11 Veterans. This study will longitudinally assess associations between PTSD diagnosis, physical activity, cardiometabolic health, and functioning over time in 250 TRACTS participants. H1-1: Total self-report physical activity will mediate the effects of PTSD on cardiometabolic health and functioning over time, such that lower physical activity will increase the detrimental effect of PTSD on cardiometabolic health and functioning. H1-2: physical activity intensity will moderate the effect physical activity has on cardiometabolic health and functioning. Aim 2: To examine diet quality as a mechanism linking PTSD to cardiometabolic health and functioning in post-9/11 Veterans. This study will longitudinally assess associations between PTSD diagnosis, diet quality, cardiometabolic health, and functioning over time in 200 TRACTS participants. H2: Self-report dietary intake will mediate the effects of PTSD on cardiometabolic health and functioning over time, such that a poor diet will increase the detrimental effect of PTSD on cardiometabolic health and functioning. Supplemental Aim: To validate the use of a self-report clinical measure of physical activity against objective measure obtained via accelerometry. Objective measurement of physical activity is not often accessible or feasible for VA providers (e.g., time constraints). It is essential that quick self-report physical activity measures accurately reflect the physical activity of Veterans. This study will compare data from a self-report clinical physical activity measure to objectively measured physical activity/sedentary time (i.e., accelerometry), cardiorespiratory fitness, cardiometabolic health, functioning, and PTSD symptom severity in 100 post-9/11 Veterans. H1A-1: Self-report and objective measurement of physical activity will be significantly correlated. H1A-2: Both self-report and objectively measured physical activity/sedentary time will be associated with cardiorespiratory fitness, cardiometabolic health, functioning, and PTSD symptom severity. Read Less

This research will help us to learn if the medicine called metformin reduces the risk of death, heart attacks, and/or strokes in Veterans who have pre-diabetes and heart or blood vessel problems. Read Less

The goal of the study is to generate a biorepository of longitudinal biofluids-blood (plasma and serum), cerebral spinal fluid (CSF) and urine linked to genetics and longitudinal clinical information that are made available to the research community. To accomplish these goals, we will enroll 800 Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) patients and 200 healthy controls from sites globally, over a 5 year time frame. Additionally, speech and motor function and spirometry measures will be collected bi-weekly in a subset of participants. ALS participants will be asked to come to the clinic for 5 study visits approximately every 4 months. Healthy participants will be coming for 2 study visits with a 12-month interval between visits. These samples and clinical information will be stored in a de-identified manner and made available for investigators to use in future research studies. Read Less

This protocol will utilize the lymphedema indentometer, or durometer (a novel, noninvasive piece of equipment that measures skin elasticity), to better characterize disease progression in patients with lymphedema. Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center patients who undergo treatment of lymphedema will be candidates for this noninvasive test. This device and the data it generates will help understand the incidence of lymphedema at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center compared to national data and the outcomes of surgical treatment of lymphedema. Read Less

Researchers are looking for new ways to treat children with different types of melanoma (skin cancer), solid tumors, and lymphomas (blood cancers) that are any of these: * Advanced, which means cancer spread in the body or cannot be removed with surgery * Relapsed, which means cancer has come back after it had responded to previous treatment (responded means it stopped growing, gets smaller, or disappeared) * Refractory, which means cancer did not respond to previous treatment Pembrolizumab is an immunotherapy, which is a treatment that helps the immune system fight cancer. Researchers want to learn if different doses of pembrolizumab can cause at least 1 of the types of cancer to get smaller or go away. With Amendment 8, enrolment of participants with solid tumours and participants 6 months to under 12 years old with melanoma were closed. Enrolment of participants 12-18 years old with melanoma continues. Enrolment of participants who have tumours with specific traits (microsatellite-instability-high (MSI-H), and tumour-mutational burden-high ≥10 mutation/Mb (TMB-H)) also continues. Read Less

RATIONALE: Collecting and storing samples of blood, urine, tissue and data from patients with amyloid diseases to test in the laboratory may help the study of this disease in the future. PURPOSE: This research study is collecting samples from patients with amyloid diseases Read Less

Hemodialysis represents a life line of patients with end stage renal disease, who are commonly maintained on hemodialysis through catheters. Prolonged exposure to these catheters eventually damages the walls of veins, which results in stenosis at the local site. This condition is called central venous stenosis (CVS) and affects number of patients on hemodialysis in the United States and can compromise the dialysis efficacy. The current diagnostic modality for CVS is venography, which has several limitations. This study proposes to examine intravenous ultrasound (IVUS) as a potentially superior modality, which will provide additional information. Read Less

Persons with HIV, even those well-treated, are at increased risk for heart disease when compared to the general population. Two hormones called aldosterone and brain natriuretic peptide (BNP), which have been shown to be abnormal in HIV, may be associated with inflammation as well as early changes in structure and function of the heart. This study is being conducted to evaluate whether therapies to block aldosterone and increase BNP levels may reduce the burden and progression of heart failure to improve cardiovascular health. Read Less

This research trial studies whole exome sequencing in finding causative variants in germline deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) samples from patients with peripheral neuropathy receiving chemotherapy for breast cancer. Studying samples of germline DNA in the laboratory from patients with peripheral neuropathy receiving paclitaxel for breast cancer may help doctors learn more about changes that occur in DNA and identify biomarkers related to peripheral neuropathy. Read Less

This research trial studies whole exome sequencing in finding causative variants in germline deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) samples from patients with congestive heart failure receiving therapy for breast cancer. Studying samples of germline DNA in the laboratory from patients with congestive heart failure receiving therapy for breast cancer may help doctors learn more about changes that occur in DNA and identify biomarkers related to congestive heart failure. Read Less