All Clinical Trials

This randomized phase IIB trial studies how well tamoxifen or afimoxifene works in treating patients with estrogen receptor positive breast cancer. Estrogen can cause the growth of breast cancer cells. Hormone therapy using tamoxifen citrate or afimoxifene may fight breast cancer by blocking the use of estrogen by the tumor cells. Read Less

This study is being done to answer the following question: Is the combination of the Medtronic pump and the Codman catheter device a safe alternative to the C3000 Codman pump for delivering chemotherapy directly into the liver of patients with metastatic colorectal cancer or cholangiocarcinoma? Read Less

The homeopathic medicine, Oleander 4X HPUS is indicated for temporary relief of symptoms associated with flu, such as muscle or body aches, headaches, chills and fever, cough, and congestion. The primary purpose of this study is to assess the safety of Oleander 4X HPUS in health male and female subjects compared to a placebo. This is a randomized, double blind, placebo-controlled Phase I Proof of Concept clinical trial to evaluate the safety and efficacy of OLEANDER 4X HPUS in Healthy Volunteers. Briefly, 45 Healthy volunteers who meet the eligibility criteria and agree to participation in the study will be placed on 1.0 mL of OLEANDER 4X HPUS, four-to-twelve times per day for seven days. For the pharmacokinetics study (cohorts 4-6), participants will take OLEANDER 4X HPUS at a prescribed dose one time. The aim of the present study is to evaluate the safety of OLEANDER 4X HPUS. This real-world cohort provides a unique opportunity to study this medicine. This protocol outlines a study involving Healthy volunteers. Up to 45 volunteers will be recruited in specific health systems in the USA. Second ARM, sub-study: As a second arm of this study, a random double blind, placebo-controlled pharmacokinetics study in healthy volunteers. Briefly, 15 healthy volunteers who meet the same eligibility criteria and agree to participation in the study will be placed on one, two, or 4 doses (1 mL per dose) of OLEANDER 4X HPUS one time. This is effectively three ascending doses in 4 subjects on OLEANDER 4X HPUS, compared to the placebo (1 subject). Read Less

This research study is exploring the effects of dietary intervention in PSC. Study participants will be randomly assigned to either the Specific Carbohydrate Diet (SCD) or a vegan/low-sulfur diet for 8 weeks; the entire study will last approximately 14 weeks. Participants will work with BWH Registered Dieticians and receive dietary educational materials, recipes, and a food procurement stipend to support the new diet. Subjects will attend 7 video visits and have regular lab tests performed, requiring blood and stool samples. Read Less

This research study is studying a combination of drugs as a possible treatment for EGFR-Mutated Advanced Lung Cancer. The names of the study drugs involved in this study are Niraparib and Osimertinib. Read Less

As tranexamic acid (TXA) becomes more prevalent, all patients are receiving the same dose and method of delivery regardless of their pre-operative risk of transfusion. Therefore, the aim of the study is to determine whether or not repeated dosing of oral or a different method of delivery like intravenous (IV) TXA reduces the post-operative reduction in hemoglobin, hematocrit, number of transfusions, and postoperative blood loss following open spine surgery. Read Less

Over the past 10 years, electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes, EC) have been commercialized as a "less harmful" alternative to traditional cigarettes.1,2 However, e-cigarettes are believed to cause pulmonary epithelial, endothelial and vascular dysfunction, and to cause murine phenotypes similar to those of human COPD. Recently, "spiked" vape juice has been linked to severe lung damage. Unfortunately, the effects of e-cigarettes on the human lungs are still poorly understood, especially in healthy young adults. Therefore, establishing the health effects of e-cigarettes in humans is of paramount importance to guide medical and regulatory decision making. Its widespread use and immense popularity among teenagers and young adults have caused major concern given potentially significant addictive and detrimental long-term health effects. Read Less

Postoperative nausea and vomiting are common occurrences following bariatric surgery, occurring in up to 80% of patients and contributing to increased healthcare utilization and delays in discharge. This study aims to evaluate the impact of a high-protein liquid diet on postoperative nausea, vomiting, and length of stay after laparoscopic or robotic sleeve gastrectomy. Read Less

The purpose of this study is to develop new ways to make medical images of the lungs and liver of adults using a technique called four-dimensional magnetic resonance imaging (4D-MRI). This technique produces three-dimensional movies of the inside of the chest and abdomen while the patient is breathing. (The fourth dimension is time!) This new way of medical imaging is being developed to help cancer patients undergoing radiation therapy. Radiation therapy is used to treat cancerous tumors. For radiation therapy to be effective, the precise size, shape, and location of the tumor within the body must be known. A particular difficulty for radiation treatment of lung and liver cancer is that the tumor moves during treatment because the patient is breathing. Therefore, tumor motion must also be incorporated into the treatment plan. This study aims to improve radiation treatment planning through better targeting and dose estimation based on 4D-MRI. Before this new imaging method can be used for radiation treatment planning, it must be tested in living, breathing volunteers. Read Less

Esophagectomy is the cornerstone of the curative treatment of esophageal carcinoma. Despite this treatment, patients can suffer from locoregional or distant metastatic disease and only a very selected group of patients can be cured: mostly those with recurrence in one single organ. Brain metastases are rare after esophagectomy for cancer, but they have a serious impact on survival. Agressive treatment is often moren difficult for brain metastases compared to other metastases and some risk factors have been identified earlier. There is an impression that the incidence of brain metastases in esophageal cancer patients has increased since the introduction of neoadjuvant treatment schemes. However, this is not clear yet. A potential explanation could be that chemotherapy disturbs the blood-brain-barrier, hereby facilitating the migration of tumor cells to the brain. The purpose of this study is to retrospectively analyze the incidence and potential risk factors of brain metastases in patients who underwent esophagectomy for esophageal cancer. Patients treated between 2000 and 2019 will be included and outcome parameters are Odds Ratio for brain metastases (comparison between primary surgery and neoadjuvant treatment followed by surgery), time to recurrence and risk factors, number and characteristics of the brain metastases. Read Less

The PIONEER Initiative stands for Precision Insights On N-of-1 Ex vivo Effectiveness Research. The PIONEER Initiative is designed to provide access to functional precision medicine to any cancer patient with any tumor at any medical facility. Tumor tissue is saved at time of biopsy or surgery in multiple formats, including fresh and cryopreserved as a living biospecimen. SpeciCare assists with access to clinical records in order to provide information back to the patient and the patient's clinical care team. The biospecimen tumor tissue is stored in a bio-storage facility and can be shipped anywhere the patient and the clinical team require for further testing. Additionally, the cryopreservation of the biospecimen allows for decisions about testing to be made at a later date. It also facilitates participation in clinical trials. The ability to return research information from this repository back to the patient is the primary end point of the study. The secondary end point is the subjective assessment by the patient and his or her physician as to the potential benefit that this additional information provides over standard of care. Overall the goal of PIONEER is to enable best in class functional precision testing of a patient's tumor tissue to help guide optimal therapy (to date this type of analysis includes organoid drug screening approaches in addition to traditional genomic profiling). Read Less

INTRODUCTION: Due to the low incidence of pediatric spinal cord injury (SCI) and the high demand for knowledge and research, international cooperation is needed to build a solid and shared understanding of the extent of the problem, and also uniformity in treatment and measurement methods. The aim of the study is to map organization of care and rehabilitation of children and adolescents < 18 years of age with SCI, to explore qualitatively psychosocial aspects of individuals and to establish use of common outcome measures in 10 rehabilitation units from seven countries, cooperating within the Sunnaas International Network in Rehabilitation (SIN); China, USA, Russia, Israel, Palestine, Norway and Sweden. METHOD: In Phase I two cross-sectional studies will be conducted to set the scene for the outcome studies following in Phase II (2020-2022). Phase I consists of a quantitative descriptive study using a websurvey to describe and compare the systems of care and delivery of inpatient rehabilitation services for pediatric SCI patients. In addition, a qualitative study will explore the psychosocial aspects of living with a childhood acquired SCI. Two adolescents, aged 13-17 years and at least 6 months post-acute treatment, from each unit will interviewed using a semi-structured interview guide. Ethical approval has been applied for in each unit, and the study is registered at ClinicalTrial-gov. A workshop for the 24 study team members, where the main focus was to ensure that data collection is conducted in a good manner, was held in May 2018, and data collection is expected finalized by 2020. Phase II (planning stage) will consist of methodological outcome studies. DISCUSSION: Phase I of the study will broaden the body of knowledge on pediatric SCI internationally, thus enabling comparison, discussion and development of organizational models and quality of care and rehabilitation for young persons with SCI. Phase II will contribute to the use of common and reliable outcome measures for these patients. Read Less