Clinical Research Directory

Comparing Single vs Multiple Dose Radiation for Cancer Patients With Brain Metastasis and Receiving Immunotherapy

This study is designed to see if we can lower the chance of side effects from radiation in patients with breast, kidney, small cell lung cancer, non-small cell lung cancer or melanoma that has spread to the brain and who are also being treated with immunotherapy, specifically immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI) therapy. This study will compare the usual care treatment of single fraction stereotactic radiosurgery (SSRS) given on one day versus fractionated stereotactic radiosurgery (FSRS), which is a lower dose of radiation given over a few days to determine if FSRS is better or worse at reducing side effects than usual care treatment.

Prophylactic Anti-Seizure Medication vs No Anti-Seizure Medication for Patients With Primary Motor Cortex Brain Metastases

This is a randomized trial for patients with brain metastases in the primary motor cortex who have not had seizures to receive either the prophylactic anti-seizure medication levetiracetam (also known by its trade name Keppra) or proceed with standard of care management, which does not currently include prophylactic levetiracetam. Patients who enroll to this trial will be randomized to receive prophylactic levetiracetam or not receive prophylactic levetiracetam.

Stereotactic Radiation for Growing/Changing Brain Metastases With Same-Day Radiation Planning and Treatment With Margin Reduction

The goal of this study is to evaluate the feasibility and effectiveness of same-day radiation planning and treatment. The study will shorten the time interval between radiation planning (radiation mapping) and radiation treatment. The intent of this shorter time interval is to increase the likelihood that the brain metastases being treated remain fully within the high-dose radiation fields. Participants will be randomized to receive brain-directed stereotactic radiation with a 1mm margin or 0mm margin, have their simulation/radiation planning imaging on the same day that brain-directed stereotactic radiation is delivered, and have repeat simulation/radiation planning scans during the course of treatment if more than 2-3 days have elapsed since the most recent scans.

Developing a New MRI Technique to Understand Changes in Brain Tumors After Treatment

The purpose of this study is to develop and test a new magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) technique to see if it can be used to tell the difference between tumor growth from worsening of cancer and growth from the effects of treatment in participants who have brain tumors treated with radiation therapy called stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS).

Brain Imaging Biomarkers in Patients With Brain Metastasis

A biomarker is a measurable indicator of the severity or presence of some disease state. In this study, brain metastases patients who will be receiving radiation treatment, will undergo CT (Computed Tomography) and MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) scans prior to and after radiation treatment to measure these biomarkers. This is a single-center phase II study to validate the predictive abilities of biomarkers, in terms of determining how patients will respond to radiation treatment.

Local Treatment Strategies for Brain Metastases of Colorectal Cancer

COLBRAIN trial is an international (2 countries) observational, multicenter (15 centers) retrospective cohort study designed to investigate local treatment strategies for brain metastases of colorectal cancer.

Study Comparing Neoadjuvant Versus Adjuvant Stereotactic Radiotherapy of Brain Metastases

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the local control rate on the target lesion at 6, 12, and 24 months after treatment with neoadjuvant stereotactic radiotherapy (SRS NEO group) compared to standard care, adjuvant stereotactic radiotherapy (POST OP SRS group).

Effect of Azeliragon Combined With Stereotactic Radiation Therapy in Patients With Brain Metastases

To determine the safety and efficacy of using the drug azeliragon combined with stereotactic radiosurgery. Specifically, to determine if this combination will lead to improved response in the brain (tumor shrinking in size) and overall tumor control (how long tumor remains controlled).

Trial of Preoperative Radiosurgery Versus Postoperative Stereotactic Radiotherapy for Resectable Brain Metastases

The research question is whether a single fraction of preoperative radiosurgery can reduce the incidence of leptomeningeal disease 12 months following resection of a brain metastasis (BM) as compared with 5 fractions of postoperative stereotactic radiotherapy.

Tarlatamab for SCLC Brain Metastases

A single arm phase II study evaluating intracranial efficacy of tarlatamab in patients with asymptomatic active brain metastases from small cell lung cancer (SCLC).

Safety and Efficacy of NEO212 in Patients With Astrocytoma IDH-mutant, Glioblastoma IDH-wildtype or Brain Metastasis

This multi-site, Phase 1/2 clinical trial is an open-label study to identify the safety, pharmacokinetics, and efficacy of a repeated dose regimen of NEO212 alone for the treatment of patients with radiographically-confirmed progression of Astrocytoma IDH- mutant, Glioblastoma IDH-wildtype, and the safety, pharmacokinetics and efficacy of a repeated dose regimen of NEO212 when given with select SOC for the treatment of solid tumor patients with radiographically confirmed uncontrolled metastases to the brain. The study will have three phases, Phase 1, Phase 2a and Phase 2b.

Assess Use of 18F-Fluciclovine for Patients With Large Brain Metastases Treated With Staged Stereotactic Radiosurgery

The spread of cancer to the brain is referred to as brain metastases. Brain metastases are a common complication of cancer. This study is being done to determine whether the use of a new imaging agent, 18F-fluciclovine, is able to detect which patients are responding to radiation therapy. In addition, this study will look at the changes of the treated brain metastases using this imaging agent over time.

A Study of Stereotactic Radiosurgery (SRS) for People With Lung Cancer That Has Spread to the Brain

The purpose of the study is to see if stereotactic radiosurgery/SRS is an effective treatment for people with a new diagnosis of brain metastases from small cell lung cancer/SCLC.

Multi-disciplinary Care for Brain Metastases

This is a health services intervention study aimed at understanding the impact of intensive multi-disciplinary care compared with standard care on patient-reported symptom outcomes and prognostic awareness in patients with brain metastases.

Ex Vivo Drug Response Evaluation for Next Generation Care of Brain Metastases

Pharmacoscopy refers to an ex vivo real-time drug sensitivity profiling platform that has been shown to be of value in the treatment of leukemia (Snijder et al. 2017) (Kornauth et al. 2022) and may help to identify novel treatment opportunities for brain tumors as well (Lee et al. 2022). The rationale for pharmacoscopy-based drug sensitivity testing on real-time patient biopsies or surgery material is multiple: measuring drug response and sensitivity directly in real-time patient material, overcomes the problem of limited molecular biomarkers for established targeted therapeutic options and can identify effective drugs even for non-targeted therapies such as chemotherapy. It can also identify hitherto unknown specific vulnerabilities of cancer cells. Furthermore, testing directly on patient material overcomes the limitations of patient-derived cell cultures, organoids, and patient xenografts, as their prolonged culture times risk cellular adaptations and clonal selection that alter drug sensitivity. Pharmacoscopy maintains the tumor cell composition, including bystander cells or tumor microenvironment, and limits cell culture to max 48 hours. Furthermore, pharmacoscopy measures drug responses on a single-cell and on a high-content level, uniquely allowing to measure the drug sensitivity of tumor cells, and allowing to compare it to the drug cytotoxicity on healthy cells from the same patient. This relative readout has previously been shown to be essential for the correct prediction of a clinical response in haematological malignancies (Snijder et al. 2017) (Kornauth et al. 2022). The aim of this study is to generate preliminary data regarding superiority of the personalized pharmacoscopy-guided approach compared to a standard non-pharmacoscopy-guided approach, in patients with brain metastases with an indication for surgery, and limited therapeutic systemic options according to the treating physician.

Study of Stereotactic Radiosurgery With Olaparib Followed by Durvalumab and Physician's Choice Systemic Therapy in Subjects With Breast Cancer Brain Metastases

This study is a Phase I/II study evaluating the safety and effectiveness of focused radiation therapy (radiosurgery) together with olaparib, followed by immunotherapy, for patients with brain metastases from triple negative or BRCA-mutated breast cancers. This study will have a Phase I portion in which subjects will be enrolled based on 3+3 dose escalation rules. Three dose levels of olaparib will be studied. Cycle 1 of study treatment will consist of Olaparib given twice daily concurrently with stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS). Olaparib will start one week prior to SRS and continue during and following SRS (1-5 fractions) for up to 28 days total. The number of doses of Olaparib will be dependent on how long it takes a subject to recover from SRS (ideally the subject will be off steroids, if they are required, at the start of Cycle 2, with exceptions outlined later in this section). Once the subject has recovered from SRS (based on investigator discretion) that will be considered the DLT period. Cycle 2 will be initiated with physician's choice systemic therapy and durvalumab. Cycle 2+ will equal 21 days. During Cycles 2 and 3, physician's choice systemic monotherapy will be given along with durvalumab per protocol. Each cycle will last 21 days. Imaging to evaluate intracranial and extracranial disease will be performed after Cycle 3, and subjects with response will continue with the systemic therapy and durvalumab until progression (intracranial or extracranial), unacceptable toxicity or death.

A Study of 68Ga-PSMA-11 PET Scans in People With Brain Tumors

The purpose of this study is to find out whether 68Ga-PSMA-11 PET/CT is effective in assessing tumor uptake (tumor activity seen in cancerous tissue) in participants with high-grade glioma/HGG or brain metastases.

Circulating Biomarkers Repository in Adults Diagnosed With Primary and Metastatic Brain Tumors

The purpose of this protocol is to create a repository of blood samples from patients diagnosed with primary and metastatic brain tumors who are being seen in the Department of Radiation Oncology at Duke Cancer Center.

AI-assisted Diagnosis of Malignant Brain Tumors

This study aims to establish a large-scale, multi-center MRI database for malignant brain tumors. It will develop an artificial intelligence system for the segmentation and classification of multiple subtypes of brain tumors (including glioma, metastatic tumor and lymphoma et al.) using deep learning technology. This will address the issues of small sample sizes and limited classification performance in existing methods, thereby improving the accuracy of non-invasive preoperative diagnosis, reducing the need for biopsies, and having significant clinical translational value.

Comparison of Molecular-Genetic Concordance of the Primary Tumor and Brain Metastases of Colorectal Cancer

GENCONCOR-1 study is translational research aimed to investigate the concordance of the molecular genetic profile of the primary tumor and brain metastases (BM) of colorectal cancer (CRC). The study was conducted by post hoc analysis of pairs of samples of histological material with determination of the mutational status of genes KRAS, NRAS, BRAF, HER2 and MSI.

Glutamate Excitotoxicity in Brain Metastases From Lung, Breast and Melanoma Treated With Stereotactic Radiosurgery

Brain metastases (BM) represents a devastating clinical reality, carrying an estimated survival time of less than one year. Number of reasons, including complicated tumor biology and difficulties in modeling metastatic cancer in brain microenvironment, do hinder research on this topic. BM are indeed the most frequent neoplasm in the central nervous system (CNS) and is estimated that up to 14% of all newly diagnosed cancers will metastasize to the brain. A number of reasons, including complicated tumor biology and difficulties in modeling metastatic cancer in brain microenvironment, do hinder research on this topic. Present knowledge regarding alterations in Glutamate (Glu) homeostasis and BM is poor. This study aims at investigating Glu balance in BM patients and providing supporting evidence to the identification of new putative biomarkers to be used as potential therapeutic targets.

18F-Fluciclovine PET Amino Acid Evaluation of Brain Metastasis Treated With Stereotactic Radiosurgery

This is a pilot imaging study in participants treated with stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) to treat brain metastasis. The purpose of this study is to see whether 18F-Fluciclovine positron emission tomography (PET) can be used as a biomarker to measure response or progression of brain metastasis after SRS.

Avoiding Radiation Therapy Due to Intracranial Response to Chemotherapy, Targeted Therapy and/or Immuno-ONcology Therapy for Brain Metastases: Pilot Pragmatic Trial

This pilot pragmatic trial evaluates the feasibility of avoiding radiation therapy in patients with brain metastases who demonstrate an intracranial response to systemic therapy-including immunotherapy, targeted therapy, and/or chemotherapy. The study will prospectively enroll 45 patients, divided into two cohorts: 30 with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) receiving immunotherapy, and 15 with brain metastases from other solid tumors. Eligible participants must have at least one brain metastasis not planned for radiation or surgery and must be initiating or planning to initiate a systemic therapy regimen expected to penetrate the blood-brain barrier and achieve intracranial activity. All patients will undergo a re-evaluation brain MRI 4-8 weeks after initiating systemic therapy. If lesions are stable or regressing, patients will continue surveillance without radiation. If progression is noted, standard-of-care radiation may be administered at the discretion of the treating physician. The primary objective is to assess 6-month radiation therapy-free survival (RTFS) in NSCLC patients based on PD-L1 expression status. Secondary endpoints include intracranial progression-free survival, overall survival, radiation necrosis rate, and quality of life. This study seeks to inform future trial design and identify patients who may safely avoid brain radiation.

Sacituzumab Govitecan and Bevacizumab for NSCLC Brain Metastases

This study will evaluate whether the combination of sacituzumab govitecan (SG) and bevacizumab will result in shrinkage of brain metastases from patients with non-squamous non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), with disease progression on chemotherapy and immunotherapy.