46 Clinical Trials for Various Conditions
PROMISE (Pediatric Radiation Oncology with Movie Induced Sedation Effect) is an interactive incentive-based movie system that integrates with a video surveillance gating module (VisionRT) as an alternative sedation solution for pediatric patients undergoing radiation treatment (RT). This single-arm, open label, single-center phase II clinical trial is to implement PROMISE for all children ages 3-11 who are planned to undergo RT at the institution. The primary goal is to decrease the total number of pediatric patients who require general anesthesia through the use of PROMISE, with secondary goals being to assess the impact that PROMISE has on patient/family anxiety and quality of life, treatment time and clinical efficiency, and overall cost. The investigators hypothesize that PROMISE will lead to a reduction in the percentage of patients ages 3-7 who require general anesthesia use from 70% (historical control) to 30%.
The planning target volume (PTV) and planning organ at risk volume (PRV) margins used for pediatric radiation therapy are empiric, and quantitative assessment of these margins is needed to improve therapy planning and delivery.
This study is designed for children, adolescents and young adults undergoing radiation therapy for metastatic sarcoma. The aim of the study is to investigate if the investigators can improve the overall survival of these patients by targeting metastatic sites with radiation.
This phase I trial studies the side effects of a silicone topical wound dressing (StrataXRT) and to see how well it works in preventing radiation dermatitis (skin burns and side effects caused by radiation) in pediatric patients undergoing radiation therapy. StrataXRT may help prevent or decrease severe skin rash, pain, itching, skin peeling, and dry skin in pediatric patients undergoing radiation therapy to the brain or spinal cord.
This phase I pilot trial studies how well video distraction works to decrease the use of sedation in pediatric participants during radiation therapy. Radiation treatment requires participants to lie very still (for accuracy). Many children cannot do this without sedation. Watching movies during radiation may distract children so they don't need sedation to complete treatment.
The main purpose of this protocol is to estimate the percentage of patients with intermediate risk Hodgkin lymphoma who will survive free of disease (Event-free survival) for three years after treatment with multi-agent chemotherapy (Stanford V) and low-dose, tailored-field radiation therapy. The hypothesis being studied is that this treatment will result in more than 80% of patients being alive and free of disease three years after starting treatment.
Abdominopelvic CT (CTap) utilization rose significantly in blunt trauma patients over the last decade. However, the observed increases failed to reduce mortality or missed injury rates. Several investigators have derived (citation) and validated (citation) clinical decision rules that attempt to identify a subset of low risk pediatric and adult patients in whom abdominopelvic CT imaging can be safely eliminated. Thus far these efforts failed to significantly reduce utilization. The investigators propose an alternative and complimentary strategy to decrease radiation by selectively eliminating the pelvic imaging portion of the abdominopelvic CT in low risk patients. In stable, alert patients without clinically evidence of pelvis or hip fractures, abdominal CT imaging alone (diaphragm to iliac crest) identifies clinically significant intra-abdominal injury (cs-IAI) as accurately as routine abdominopelvic imaging (diaphragm to greater trochanter) and results in a clinically important decrease in radiation exposure. The study will investigate this by comparing the accuracy of an imaging protocol using CT abdomen alone versus CT abdomen and pelvis to detect cs-IAI among stable, blunt trauma patients without suspected pelvis or hip fractures in two age groups: ages 3-17 years and 18-60. Patients will undergo CT imaging as deemed clinically indicated by the treating clinician. Among those who have abdominopelvic CT scans, the study will determine the test characteristics of CT abdomen alone versus CT abdomen plus CT pelvis imaging for the identification of cs-IAI. The reference standard will include initial radiology reports, with structured follow up of indeterminate scans, operative reports, and 7-day medical record review.
The goal of this trial is to determine whether it is possible to minimize radiation dose to parts of the brain that are important for thinking and learning in children who require radiation to treat their tumor, and if this will help reduce neurocognitive (thinking and learning) impairments in these patients. Patients with newly diagnosed brain or head and neck tumors who are having radiation therapy will have neurocognitive testing and MRI imaging (both research and for regular care) done as part of their participation in the study. Survivors of childhood brain tumors who completed radiation therapy at least two years before joining the study, and have not had a recurrence, will have neurocognitive testing and research MRIs completed. Healthy children will also be enrolled and have research MRIs done. The researchers will use the radiation plan to determine how much radiation was delivered to different parts of the brain. The investigators will use the MRIs to determine how the normal brain is changing after treatment; and how this compares to patients who had standard radiation treatment or who never had a brain tumor. The neurocognitive testing will be compared among different groups to see how different treatment plans affect performance on neurocognitive tests.
This early phase I trial studies the feasibility of giving memantine for the reduction of cognitive impairment after radiation therapy in pediatric patients with central nervous system tumors. Memantine may reduce the effects of radiation therapy on memory and thinking.
Children with brain tumors who have had radiation therapy are at risk for problems with attention, memory, and problem solving. Such problems may cause difficulty in school and daily life. Memantine, the drug being used for this study, is not yet approved for use in children by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. However, studies have shown some improvements in memory for patients with dementia, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, and autism. Scientists have also used this medication for adult cancer patients receiving radiation therapy with results showing less cognitive declines over time compared to patients taking a placebo (inactive pill). These studies have also shown few side effects. This is a pilot/feasibility study and the first known study involving children with a cancer diagnosis or brain tumor. PRIMARY OBJECTIVES: * To estimate the participation rate in a study of memantine used as a neuro-protective agent in children undergoing radiotherapy for localized brain tumors (low grade glioma, craniopharyngioma, ependymoma, or germ cell tumor) * To estimate the rate of memantine medication adherence * To estimate the rate of completion of cognitive assessments SECONDARY OBJECTIVES: * To estimate the effect size of change in neurobehavioral outcomes (cognitive, social, quality of life, neurologic) associated with memantine * To evaluate the frequency and nature of memantine side effects as measured by the Systematic Assessment for Treatment Emergent Events (SAFTEE)
The purpose of this study is to quantify the radiation exposure from diagnostic testing and surgical treatment during routine endourologic procedures for symptomatic urolithiasis.
The stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) literature focuses on clinical outcomes in the adult population. However, SBRT has a particularly strong rationale for application in pediatrics given that high biologically effective doses have been shown to increase control in histologies, such as sarcoma, which are common in the pediatrics population. With stereotactic radiation therapy techniques, a reduction in normal tissue dose surrounding the target lesion of interest may also be accomplished resulting in lower toxicity. Given that pediatric patients with sarcomas, presenting with limited metastases in lung and bone, are still considered to be a curable population with aggressive local therapy, SBRT could have a significant impact on outcomes in oligometastatic patients who may be otherwise unresectable.
In previous studies, Proton Beam Radiation Therapy (PBRT) has been found to show better results in treating patients with cancer, both because there is better control of where in the body the radiation is directed and because it is associated with less severe long term side effects. However, there is limited published data demonstrating these results. The goal of the Proton and Photon Consortium Registry (PPCR) is to enroll children treated with radiation in order to describe the population that currently receives radiation and better compare the short-term and long-term benefits of different types of radiotherapy. The data collected from this study will help facilitate research on radiation therapy and allow for collaborative research. The PPCR will collect demographic and clinical data that many centers that deliver radiation therapy already collect in routine operations.
This study will analyze the effects of radiation given to children who have tumors of the central nervous system (CNS). Researchers want to learn more about changes in the quality of life that patients may experience as a result of radiation. Patients ages 21 and younger who have a primary CNS tumor and who have not received radiation previously may be eligible for this study. They will have a medical history and physical examination. Collection of blood (about 2-1/2 tablespoons) and urine will be done, as well as a pregnancy test. Patients will complete neuropsychological tests, which provide information about their changes in functioning over time. An expert in psychology will give a number of tests, and the patient's parents or guardian will be asked to complete a questionnaire about the patient's behavior. Also, patients will be given a quality of life questionnaire to complete and vision and hearing tests. The radiation itself is prescribed by patients' doctors and is not part of this study. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) will give researchers information about the tumor and brain, through several scanning sequences . MRI uses a strong magnetic field and radio waves to obtain images of body organs and tissues. Patients will lie on a table that slides into the enclosed tunnel of the scanner. They will need to lie still, and medication may be given to help them to do that. They may be in the scanner for up to 2 hours. As the scanner takes pictures, patients will hear knocking or beeping sounds, and they will wear earplugs to reduce the noise. A contrast agent will be administered, to allow images be seen more clearly. Blood and urine tests will be conducted after the first dose of radiation. MRI scans will be done 2 weeks after patients finish radiation therapy and again at 6 to 8 weeks, 6 months, 12 months, and yearly. Also at those follow-up periods, patients will undergo similar procedures as previously, including blood and urine tests and neuropsychological testing. Patients can remain in this study for 5 years. ...
In recent years, remarkable advances in medical oncology, surgery, and radiology have allowed for increasing cure rates for childhood malignancies. This success has led to an emerging understanding of the kinds of effects that treatments can have on the pediatric population and how such effects can influence pediatric cancer survivor's functioning and quality of life. It has become tremendously important to assess the long-term complications due to therapy in this growing sector of survivors and to tailor our treatments so as to minimize these late effects. The Investigators at MGH are committed to improving the delivery of radiotherapy to our patients and improving the outcome for these patients. MGH has an on-site cyclotron for proton radiotherapy in order to provide the most advanced care for patients in need. Proton therapy possesses a clinical advantage over standard photon therapy in that its optimal dose distribution delivers the bulk of radiation to the tumor site. This method spares the greatest volume of normal tissue, resulting in decreased short-term and long-term morbidity. Through open pediatric protocols for patients treated with proton radiotherapy, the investigators aim to define and report the acute and late effects associated with treatment. The investigators also treat a number of patients off-protocol with both proton and photon radiotherapy, and are interested in reporting these patients' QOL outcomes in conjunction with other clinical data that may be pertinent to the site of tumor treatment. This research is significant in that it will allow us to delineate the positive and negative effects of radiation treatment on patients' QOL, highlighting points of success and exposing areas that are in need of improvement. Such knowledge will be used to improve the experience of pediatric cancer survivors in the future. The aims of this study are: 1) to prospectively collect and report the QOL outcomes in patients treated with radiotherapy and 2) to correlate the QOL data with pertinent clinical information.
This study will evaluate the administration of AdV-tk followed by valacyclovir in children with malignant glioma, including glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) and anaplastic astrocytoma (AA), as well as recurrent ependymomas in combination with radiation therapy. The primary objective is to determine if this approach is safe and can be effectively delivered without disturbing standard therapy.
The purpose of the study was to determine if treating a limited volume of normal tissue surrounding the tumor or tumor bed using conformal radiation therapy would achieve similar rates of disease control compared to standard radiation therapy. The study was also conducted to examine the effect of irradiation on neurological, endocrine and cognitive function.
Radiation dose reduction has been a primary driver of technology development in multi-detector computed tomography (MDCT). The optimization of radiation dose for patient and task specific computed tomography (CT) applications continues to be an ongoing challenge, especially in pediatric patients where the desire to reduce radiation dose to lowest possible levels leads to both positive and negative effects. A novel research tool on the Siemens dual source (Flash® and Force ®) CT scanners allows one to assess multiple tube current levels from a single CT acquisition without incurring additional dose to the patient. Tube current is a primary contributor to radiation dose and image noise, which are inversely related. This is achieved by independently adjusting the current of each tube, while maintaining same kV in each x-ray tube. Moreover, Duke's medical physics team has developed a method based on mathematical expressions that allows the creation of incremental dose levels from the acquired image data sets. This innovative and powerful tool can be used to compare diagnostic accuracy, detectability, and many more relevant clinical features amongst multiple tube current levels with the attainment of a single CT acquisition.
The main purpose of this study is to assess the short term and the long term side effects of proton beam radiation for pediatric bone and non-rhabdomyosarcoma soft tissue sarcomas.
Indoximod was developed to inhibit the IDO (indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase) enzymatic pathway, which is important in the natural regulation of immune responses. This potent immune suppressive mechanism has been implicated in regulating immune responses in settings as diverse as infection, tissue/organ transplant, autoimmunity, and cancer. By inhibiting the IDO pathway, we hypothesize that indoximod will improve antitumor immune responses and thereby slow the growth of tumors. The central clinical hypothesis for the GCC1949 study is that inhibiting the pivotal IDO pathway by adding indoximod immunotherapy during chemotherapy and/or radiation is a potent approach for breaking immune tolerance to pediatric tumors that will improve outcomes, relative to standard therapy alone. This is an NCI-funded (R01 CA229646, MPI: Johnson and Munn) open-label phase 2 trial using indoximod-based combination chemo-radio-immunotherapy for treatment of patients age 3 to 21 years who have progressive brain cancer (glioblastoma, medulloblastoma, or ependymoma), or newly-diagnosed diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma (DIPG). Statistical analysis will stratify patients based on whether their treatment plan includes up-front radiation (or proton) therapy in combination with indoximod. Central review of tissue diagnosis from prior surgery is required, except non-biopsied DIPG. This study will use the "immune-adapted Response Assessment for Neuro-Oncology" (iRANO) criteria for measurement of outcomes. Planned enrollment is up to 140 patients.
The aim of this study is to follow up with all of the pediatric brain tumor patients who received proton beam radiation therapy at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) for which there is baseline neuropsychological testing in order to measure changes, if any, in neurobehavioral functioning (executive skills, emotional/behavioral functioning, and adaptive abilities) and their use of special education services at one year or more post-treatment. The investigators will also correlate neurobehavioral data with pertinent clinical information. Participation will be maximized through the use of mail-in, parental- and self-report questionnaires.
With modern therapy, the survival rate for pediatric brain tumor patients has significantly improved, with over 70% of patients surviving their disease. However, this progress often comes at the cost of substantial morbidity, with cognitive deficits being the primary obstacle to independent living. Robust predictors of cognitive decline and a comprehensive understanding of the underlying mechanisms of cognitive injury remain elusive. This study will prospectively investigate alterations in brain resting state networks following radiation therapy using functional imaging. The hypothesis is that radiation therapy leads to dose-dependent alterations in functional connectivity in the networks associated with higher level cognition, ultimately leading to cognitive decline.
This study represents a survivorship protocol that focuses on cognition and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in cancer patients that have received prior brain irradiation. The primary purpose of this study is to assess the feasibility of using a digital symptom tracking application focused on HRQoL and cognition in cancer survivors who received brain irradiation.
This is a phase 1 study to determine the feasibility and utility of using serial magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to assess treatment response during and after radiation therapy (standard of care cancer treatment) for participants with advanced esophageal cancer, glioblastoma, prostate cancer, vulvar cancer or pediatric glioma. The research study procedures include three MRI scans (one before, one during, and one after standard of care cancer radiation therapy) for participants with advanced esophageal cancer, glioblastoma, prostate cancer, vulvar cancer or pediatric glioma. The research study procedures include: * Screening for eligibility * Three MRI scans
The purpose of this study is to compare X-ray images obtained using the GM85 digital radiography machine at the standard full dose to X-ray images obtained using the GM85 digital radiography machine along with the Samsung S-Vue system, which is a image post-processing engine that allows images to be obtained using a lower dose. The study also aims to determine the lowest dose of radiation that can be used to get a good, readable x-ray of the chest in pediatric patients using Samsung S-Vue system.
Pediatric high-grade gliomas are highly aggressive and treatment options are limited. The purpose of this first-in-pediatrics study is to examine the safety, tolerability, and pharmacokinetics of GDC-0084 and to estimate its maximum tolerated dose (MTD) when administered to pediatric patients with diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma (DIPG) or other diffuse midline H3 K27M-mutant gliomas after they have received radiation therapy (RT). GDC-0084 is a brain-penetrant inhibitor of a growth-promoting cell signaling pathway that is dysregulated in the majority of diffuse midline glioma tumor cells. This study is also designed to enable a preliminary assessment of the antitumor activity of single-agent GDC-0084, in the hope of enabling rational combination therapy with systemic therapy and/or radiation therapy (RT) in this patient population, which is in desperate need of therapeutic advances. Primary Objectives 1. To estimate the maximum tolerated dose (MTD) and/or the recommended phase 2 dosage (RP2D) of GDC-0084 in pediatric patients with newly diagnosed diffuse midline glioma, including diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma (DIPG) 2. To define and describe the toxicities associated with administering GDC-0084 after radiation therapy (RT) in a pediatric population 3. To characterize the pharmacokinetics of GDC-0084 in a pediatric population Secondary Objectives 1. To estimate the rate and duration of radiographic response in patients with newly diagnosed DIPG or other diffuse midline glioma treated with RT followed by GDC-0084 2. To estimate the progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) distributions for patients with newly diagnosed DIPG or other diffuse midline glioma treated with RT followed by GDC-0084
This pilot study is designed to assess the safety, tolerability, and preliminary anti-tumor activity of the combination of pembrolizumab, decitabine and fixed-dose hypofractionated index site radiotherapy in pediatric and young adult patients with relapsed, refractory or progressive non-primary CNS solid tumors and lymphomas. Primary Objectives * To determine the feasibility of administering pembrolizumab in combination with decitabine and hypofractionated index lesion radiation * To identify the treatment related toxicity and tolerability of the combination of decitabine and pembrolizumab with hypofractionated index lesion radiation Secondary Objective To preliminarily define the anti-tumor efficacy of the combination of pembrolizumab, decitabine and hypofractionated index lesion radiation in patients with relapsed, refractory, or progressive non-CNS solid tumors and lymphomas using overall response rate (CR + PR) by irRECIST after 2 cycles of therapy. Exploratory Objectives To profile the kinetics of the immune response and to correlate with promotor methylation changes, nuclear imaging, stool microbiota diversity, and tumor associated antigen immune responses.
The primary objective of this study is to evaluate the toxicity profile of GRID therapy using dose levels of 10Gy, 15 Gy and 20Gy in pediatric osteosarcoma of the extremity.
This study is a clinical trial to determine the safety of injecting G207 (a new experimental virus therapy) into a recurrent or progressive brain tumor. The safety of combining G207 with a single low dose of radiation, designed to enhance virus replication and tumor cell killing, will also be tested.
This research study is evaluating a therapy called proton beam radiation therapy (PBRT) as a possible treatment for neuroblastoma. Neuroblastoma most commonly occurs in and around the adrenal glands, which are located at the top of the kidneys. However, it can also occur in other areas where groups of nerve cells exist, such as other areas of the abdomen, neck and near the spine. Conventional radiation therapy with photons is used as standard treatment for many patients with neuroblastic tumors. In this research study, the investigators are looking at another type of radiation called proton radiation which is known to spare surrounding tissues and organs from unnecessary radiation. Proton radiation delivers radiation to the area requiring radiation. This may reduce side effects that patients would normally experience with standard radiation therapy or other means of delivering proton radiation therapy. In this research study, the investigators are evaluating the effectiveness of using proton radiation delivered to reduce side effects associated with radiation treatment. The investigators will also be assessing the late side effects experienced by participants in each treatment group.