Massachusetts Paid Clinical Trials

This research study is a Phase I clinical trial. Phase I clinical trials test the safety of an investigational intervention. Phase I studies also try to define the appropriate dose of the investigational therapy to use for further studies. "Investigational" means that the intervention is still being studied and that research doctors are trying to find out more about it. Retroperitoneal sarcomas are soft tissue tumors located at the far back of the abdomen. Typically, patients with retroperitoneal sarcomas either have surgery for the removal of their tumors alone, or have their tumors removed, followed by standard radiation therapy, or have pre-operative radiation followed by surgery. When conventional radiation therapy is delivered after surgery, it can damage normal tissue. In this study, you will undergo proton beam radiation therapy or IMRT before undergoing surgery for the removal of your tumor. Proton radiation and IMRT are FDA approved radiation delivery systems. Protons are tiny particles with positive charge that can be controlled to travel a certain distance and stop inside the body. In theory, this allows better control of where the radiation dose is delivered as compared to photons. Since proton radiation is more targeted, it may help to reduce unwanted side effects from radiation. In this study, a standard dose of radiation will be given to the majority of the tumor, while a simultaneously integrated boost of additional radiation will be given to certain areas of the tumor identified as higher risk. This means that a higher radiation dose will be given to the higher risk areas of the tumor. The purpose of this study is to determine the highest dose of radiation therapy with protons or IMRT that can be delivered safely in patients with retroperitoneal sarcomas and the effectiveness of proton beam radiation therapy as an intervention for patients with retroperitoneal sarcomas. Read Less

The primary objective of this study is to evaluate the safety and efficacy of the use of a biocellular mixture of emulsified adipose-derived tissue stromal vascular fraction (AD-tSVF) and high density platelet-rich plasma concentrate (HD- PRP). Additionally, comparison with clinical outcomes of adipose-derived cellular Stromal Vascular Fraction (AD-cSVF) + AD-tSVF + HD PRP; AD-cSVF + emulsified AD-tSVF + HD- PRP; emulsified AD-tSVF + HD PRP + AD-cSVF; AD-cSVF via intravenous infusion in treatment of Scaring Alopecias and Alopecia Areata. Control will be served by use of established clinical protocol of using platelet concentrates with Matristem Matrix (Acel) injected in the same fashion as the other ARMs within this study, and comparative analyses performed at the endpoint of this study. Read Less

Surgery is currently the only potentially curative treatment modality for localized retroperitoneal sarcoma (RPS). Available studies regarding oncologic outcomes are mainly retrospective in nature, and RPS are recognized as a rare disease. Therefore, prospective analysis of high quality data is a top priority. Primary Objectives of this study are: * to prospectively collect standardized clinical data and radiological and pathological material from primary RPS patients treated with surgery at reference centers. * patient outcome will be evaluated in terms of overall survival (OS), disease-free survival (DFS), crude cumulative incidence (CCI) of local recurrence (LR) and distant metastasis (DM). Secondary Objectives: * to estimate the efficacy and safety of surgical treatment, including extended surgical approach to primary RPS; * to prospectively evaluate the impact of multimodality therapy, including radiation therapy and chemotherapy; * to identify clinical, radiological and pathological characteristics that may influence the oncological outcome or may be used as predictors of LR/DM/OS. These may be important biomarkers of disease; * to utilize collected pathological material for research collaborations. Read Less