7 Clinical Trials for Various Conditions
The researchers are doing this study to find out whether pasireotide is an effective treatment for people with prolactinoma who cannot receive dopamine agonist therapy. Another purpose of this study is to find out whether pasireotide is a safe treatment for people with prolactinoma.
This is a short-term validation study of a quality of life metric "Prolac-10" for patients diagnosed with a prolactinoma, undergoing new medical therapy.
The purpose of this study is to evaluate the use of the non-ergoline dopamine agonist ropinirole for the treatment of hyperprolactinemia in patients with idiopathic hyperprolactinemia and prolactinomas.
This is a prospective, multi-center observational study designed to address patient-reported nasal outcomes in adults undergoing endoscopic and microscopic surgical removal of pituitary tumors. The primary objective of this study is to determine the difference in nasal outcomes by using the Anterior Skull Base (ASK) Nasal survey between patients treated with endoscopic surgical technique and those treated with microscopic surgical technique. Patients will be given the ASK Nasal survey to assess their nasal functioning and overall health before their surgery, and at post-operative visits 1-2 weeks, 3 months, and 6 months.
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.
There is a variety of tumors affecting the pituitary gland in childhood; some of these tumors (eg craniopharyngioma) are included among the most common central nervous system tumors in childhood. The gene(s) involved in the pathogenesis of these tumors are largely not known; their possible association with other developmental defects or inheritance pattern(s) has not been investigated. The present study serves as a (i) screening/training, and, (ii) a research protocol. As a screening and training study, this protocol allows our Institute to admit children with tumors of the hypothalamic-pituitary unit to the pediatric endocrine clinics and wards of the NIH Clinical Center for the purposes of (i)\<TAB\>training our fellows and students in the identification of genetic defects associated with pituitary tumor formation, and (ii)\<TAB\>teaching our fellows and students the recognition, management and complications of pituitary tumors As a research study, this protocol aims at (i)\<TAB\>developing new clinical studies for the recognition and therapy of pituitary tumors; as an example, two new studies have emerged within the context of this protocol: (a) investigation of a new research magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) tool and its usefulness in the identification of pituitary tumors, and (b) investigation of the psychological effects of cortisol secretion in pediatric patients with Cushing disease. Continuation of this protocol will eventually lead to new, separate protocols that will address all aspects of diagnosis of pituitary tumors and their therapy in childhood. (ii)\<TAB\>Identifying the genetic components of pituitary oncogenesis; those will be investigated by (a) studying the inheritance pattern of pituitary tumors in childhood and their possible association with other conditions in the families of the patients, and (ii) collecting tumor tissues and examining their molecular genetics. As with the clinical studies, the present protocol may help generate ideas for future studies on the treatment and clinical follow up of pediatric patients with tumors of the pituitary gland and, thus, lead to the development of better therapeutic regimens for these neoplasms.
The purpose of the study is to determine genetic links among blood-relatives and between spouses of patients with pituitary tumors.