10 Clinical Trials for Various Conditions
The purpose of the study is to evaluate the Calcium homeostasis in adult patients with uncontrolled acromegaly. The measurements will be repeated 3-6 months after the treatment of acromegaly (surgical or medical). The control group consists of patients with nonfunctioning pituitary tumors who will undergo surgical removal.
RATIONALE: Rosiglitazone may help pituitary adenoma cells become more like normal cells, and grow and spread more slowly. PURPOSE: This phase II trial is studying how well rosiglitazone works in treating patients with newly diagnosed or residual or recurrent pituitary adenoma.
RATIONALE: Learning about the side effects of stereotactic radiosurgery in patients with brain tumors or other brain disorders may help doctors plan treatment and help patients live more comfortably. PURPOSE: This clinical trial is studying the acute side effects in patients who are undergoing stereotactic radiosurgery for brain tumors or other brain disorders.
RATIONALE: Radiolabeled drugs such as yttrium Y 90 SMT 487 can locate tumor cells and deliver tumor-killing substances to them without harming normal cells. PURPOSE: Phase I trial to study the effectiveness of yttrium Y 90 SMT 487 in treating patients who have refractory or recurrent cancer.
RATIONALE: Antineoplastons are naturally-occurring substances that may also be made in the laboratory. Antineoplastons may inhibit the growth of cancer cells. PURPOSE: This phase II trial is studying how well antineoplaston therapy works in treating patients with neuroendocrine tumor that is metastatic or unlikely to respond to surgery or radiation therapy.
This project is the first comprehensive prospective study of clinically non-functioning pituitary adenomas (CNFAs). Two groups of subjects will be studied: Group I will consist of 100 patients with clinically non-functioning (CNF) pituitary lesions who are asymptomatic and do not require surgery; Group II will consist of 250 patients who have pituitary lesions that are symptomatic and require surgery. Patients will be followed with a series of endocrine laboratory testing, physical examinations, testing of quality of life and neurocognitive function before and serially over time either during non-surgical management or after surgery and in some patients before and after radiotherapy (RT). Data on pituitary magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) studies and visual field testing being done over time during follow up as part of clinical care will be collected.
This study focuses on new therapies for a challenging disease in pituitary medicine, that of aggressive pituitary tumors which have limited therapeutic options beyond standard surgical, radiotherapy, and select medical therapies, each incurring significant morbidity and mortality, and each not optimally effective. To improve this gap in knowledge, we seek to translate findings from the laboratory into clinical practice and hone in on therapies directed at pituitary molecular targets, namely ErbB receptors. We have shown that human prolactinomas express nuclear EGFR and membranous ErbB2, ErbB3 and ErbB4, and expression correlates with tumor invasion. Pituitary tumor cell lines transfected with EGFR and ErbB2 translated to downstream effects on prolactin (PRL) gene expression and secretion,as well as cell proliferation. Animal models implanted with these cell lines developed larger tumors and PRL elevations. Treatment with ErbB tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) led to regression of tumors xenografted into these animals and attenuated PRL secretion. Primary culture of human prolactinomas confirmed expression of ErbB receptors and inhibitory effects of TKIs on PRL secretion and cell proliferation. Based on these exciting preliminary data, the objective of this new proposal is to conduct a Phase IIa clinical trial as a trenchant test of our translational hypothesis that tyrosine kinase inhibition constitutes highly effective targeted biologic therapy for these hitherto refractory pituitary adenomas. Specifically, our aims are to test the: 1) efficacy of TKI therapy with a clinical trial; 2) threshold level of tumor receptor expression to achieve TKI clinical response. Nineteen subjects will be treated with lapatinib for 6 months in combination with their current dopamine agonist therapy, with monthly measurements of PRL levels and MRI imaging every 3 months to evaluate the primary endpoints of achieving 40% reduction in tumor size and 50% reduction in PRL and secondary endpoints of radiologic stabilization and/or reduction and PRL normalization. Mean ErbB receptor protein expression will be compared between responders to lapatinib and non-responders by immunohistochemistry in pituitary tumor samples of these subjects collected from prior surgeries.
This is a phase II, open-label, 12-month pilot study in 10 patients with silent corticotroph pituitary tumors testing the hypotheses that Pasireotide long-acting release (LAR) treatment of patients with silent corticotroph pituitary tumors and elevated plasma Proopiomelanocortin (POMC) levels will reduce plasma POMC levels and this will be associated with a reduction in pituitary tumor size. Pasireotide LAR 40 mg will be administered monthly. Baseline and monthly visits on therapy will monitor plasma levels of POMC, other pituitary function, safety labs, glucose tolerance, physical examination, and visual fields. Pituitary magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) will be done at baseline, 6 months and 12 months of therapy. The eligible patient population will consist of adult patients with known silent corticotroph pituitary tumors and elevated plasma levels of POMC.
The purpose of this study is to evaluate whether therapy with farletuzumab is effective and safe in the treatment of resectable, non-functioning pituitary adenomas.
Characterization of receptors present in non-functioning pituitary macroadenomas by Reverse Transcriptase- Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) would assist with targeted medical therapy based on the information obtained by immunohistochemistry and RT-PCR.