4 Clinical Trials for Various Conditions
This research trial studies two types of tests, an ultrasound test and a biomarker test, to see how well they predict how aggressive (invasive) bladder cancer is in samples from patients with bladder cancer. The aggressiveness of a tumor means how likely it is to invade the body and spread. The ultrasound test uses a fluorescent dye and stimulates cells under a microscope to see how they respond. This may allow doctors to predict how likely the cancer cells are to spread in the body. The biomarker test uses laboratory testing of samples from patients to study genes and other molecules that may predict the cancer invasiveness. Comparing two different ways of predicting cancer aggressiveness may help doctors identify how well they work, and may eventually allow doctors to predict aggressiveness without needing to take a biopsy.
RATIONALE: Diagnostic procedures such as cystoscopy may improve the ability to detect cancer and to determine the extent of disease. PURPOSE: Diagnostic trial to compare the effectiveness of cystoscopy using hexyl 5-aminolevulinate and two light sources in detecting carcinoma in situ in patients who have bladder cancer.
This phase II trial studies the safety and feasibility of utilizing acupuncture in patients with high-risk bladder cancer that has not spread to the surrounding muscle (non-muscle invasive) undergoing treatment with Intravesical BCG. BCG is a weakened form of the bacterium Mycobacterium bovis that does not cause disease. It is used in a solution to stimulate the immune system in the treatment of bladder cancer. Unfortunately, many patients experience side effects such as pelvic pain, painful urination, severe urgency, frequency, urge incontinence, need to urinate at night, and/or infectious complications. These side effects may cause patients to delay or stop BCG treatment. Acupuncture is a medical intervention in which fine metallic needles are inserted into anatomical locations of the body to stimulate the peripheral and the central nervous system. Giving acupuncture before each intravesical BCG treatment may help to reduce the side effects of intravesical BCG, and help patients complete treatment. Specific outcomes of interest include acceptability to patients, effect of acupuncture on intravesical BCG-related side effects, and adverse events associated with acupuncture.
This phase II trial studies the effect of adding pembrolizumab to gemcitabine in treating patients with non-muscle invasive bladder cancer whose cancer does not respond to Bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG) treatment. Chemotherapy drugs, such as gemcitabine, work in different ways to stop the growth of tumor cells, either by killing the cells, by stopping them from dividing, or by stopping them from spreading. Immunotherapy with monoclonal antibodies, such as pembrolizumab, may help the patient's immune system attack the cancer, and may interfere with the ability of tumor cells to grow and spread. Adding pembrolizumab to gemcitabine may delay the return of BCG-unresponsive bladder cancer for longer period compared to gemcitabine alone.