Clinical Research Directory

Parental Support Intervention in an Advanced Oncological Context

This prospective, two-arm randomized trial compares a psycho-educational program to a psycho-educational and experiential program for parents with advanced cancer. These two interventions aim to support parent-child communication about cancer, but we hypothesize that the combined intervention will be more effective for all studied communication variables.

Impact of Remimazolam on Prognosis After Bladder Cancer Surgery

Bladder cancer is one of the most common genitourinary cancers. Transurethral resection of bladder tumor (TURBT) is the standard therapy for nonmuscle invasive bladder cancer. However, patients after TURBT are at risk for recurrence and progression. Benzodiazepines are proved to inhibit proliferation of multiple types of cancer cells in vitro. Delirium is an acute onset and transient cerebral dysfunction and is associated with worse outcomes. Previous studies indicated that benzodiazepines increase incidence of postoperative delirium. Remimazolam is a new benzodiazepine with rapid onset and ultra-short activity. The aims of this study are to explore the impact of remimazolam for general anesthesia on emergency delirium and recurrence-free survival in patients undergoing bladder cancer surgery.

Opioid-free Anaesthesia in Breast Cancer Surgery

Background: Various analgesic modalities are adopted for perioperative analgesia in breast cancer surgeries. Opioid-free and opioid-sparing techniques are gaining popularity due to the lack of opioid-dependent undesirable effects, including respiratory depression, urinary retention, nausea and vomiting, constipation, itching, opioid-induced hyperalgesia, tolerance, addiction, and immune system disorders. The goal of this prospective randomized clinical trial is to investigate the impact of opioid-free anaesthesia (OFA) versus conventional general anaesthesia (CGA) on postoperative analgesic requirements after breast cancer surgery (lumpectomy/mastectomy, with or without axillary lymph node excision). Secondary objectives include comparative perioperative evaluation of cognitive function and postoperative adverse events during the first 48 hours atfter surgery. Comparative evaluation of intraoperative haemodynamics and hospital length of stay are also secondary objectives, as well as the incidence of neuropathic pain assessed by validated questionnaires at 3 and 6 months postoperatively. During the preoperative screening, body measurements, age, gender, ASA (American Society of Anesthesiologists) physical status classification, educational level (using a 6-level scale: elementary, middle school, high school, higher education, higher education, and postgraduate/doctoral degree), home medication, and comorbidities (using the Charlson Comorbidity Index) are recorded. Intraoperatively, the duration of anaesthesia, duration of surgery, associated intraoperative data (e.g., haemodynamic instability, adverse effects associated with protocol-administered pharmaceutical agents, etc.), and medications administered (type and quantity) are recorded. The investigators expect to recruit at least 100 participants per group.

Effect of Propofol and Sevoflurane Anesthesia on HSP70 Expression in Tumor Cells

The goal of this clinical trial is to learn if sevoflurane-based inhalational anesthesia (s-IA) and propofol-based total intravenous anesthesia (p-TVA) have different effects on HSP70 expression in different types of tumour cells. The main questions it aims to answer are: * if p-TVA/s-IA increase or suppress HSP70 expression in tumor cells in comparison with a pre-anesthesia level; * does this change in HSP70 expression cause any difference in vital characteristics of tumor cells, such as proliferation, apoptosis, colony formation and migration. Researchers will compare p-TVA with s-IA by ability of these types of anesthesia to change the HSP70 expression level and modulate HSP70-mediated effects in tumor cells. Participants will: * be randomly allocated to p-TVA or s-IA groups; * donate 12 ml of blood before anesthesia induction and 12 ml after 2 hours of anesthesia. The blood serum will be used to prepare cell medium. After exposure to this medium, cells from different tumor types will be investigated using cytological and molecular biological methods.

PSMA-PET Guided Hypofractionated Salvage Prostate Bed Radiotherapy

After radical prostatectomy approximately 15-40% of men develop a biochemical recurrence (BR) within 5 years. The standard treatment of post-prostatectomy BR is salvage external beam radiation therapy (sEBRT). sEBRT can provide long-term disease control; with 5 year biochemical progression-free survival (bPFS) up to 60% and with most treatment failures in the first 2 years after sEBRT. The main goal of this project is to investigate whether the oncologic outcome in patients with post-prostatectomy recurrent PCa can be improved, by increasing the biological effective radiation dose using a hypofractionated schedule of 20 x 3 = 60 Gy. The study is designed as a prospective open phase III randomized multicenter trial. All patients with biochemical recurrence with a PSA \< 1.0 ng/ml after radical prostatectomy for prostate cancer without evidence of lymph nodes or distance metastases will be included. PSA progression after prostatectomy defined as two consecutive rises with the final PSA \> 0.1 ng/mL or three consecutive rises will be included. All eligible patients will be randomized to one of the following two treatment arms: Arm 1 = Conventional sEBRT to apply a total dose of 70 Gy in 35 daily fractions of 2 Gy during 7 weeks. Arm 2 = Hypofractionated sEBRT to apply a total dose of 60 Gy in 20 fractions of 3 Gy during 4 weeks. The primary endpoint will be the 5-year progression-free survival (PFS) after treatment.