Clinical Research Directory

Autologous T-cells Genetically Engineered to Express Receptors Reactive Against KRAS Mutations in Conjunction With a Vaccine Directed Against These Antigens in Participants With Metastatic Cancer

Background: Many cancer cells produce substances called antigens that are unique to each cancer. These antigens stimulate the body s immune responses. One approach to treating these cancers is to take disease-fighting white blood cells from a person, change those cells so they will target the specific proteins (called antigens) from the cancer cells, and return them to that person s blood. The use of the white blood cells in this manner is one form of gene therapy. A vaccine may help these modified white cells work better. Objective: To test a cancer treatment that uses a person s own modified white blood cells along with a vaccine that targets a specific protein. Eligibility: Adults aged 18 to 72 years with certain solid tumors that have spread after treatment. Design: Participants will undergo leukapheresis: Blood is removed from the body through a tube attached to a needle inserted into a vein. The blood passes through a machine that separates out the white blood cells. The remaining blood is returned to the body through a second needle. Participants will stay in the hospital for 3 or 4 weeks. They will take chemotherapy drugs for 1 week to prepare for the treatment. Then their modified white cells will be infused through a needle in the arm. They will take other drugs to prevent infections after the infusion. The vaccine is injected into a muscle; participants will receive their first dose of the vaccine on the same day as their cell infusion. Participants will have follow-up visits 4, 8, and 12 weeks after the cell infusions. They will receive 2 or 3 additional doses of the boost vaccine during these visits. Follow-up will continue for 5 years, but participants will need to stay in touch with the gene therapy team for 15 years. ...

Bintrafusp Alfa (M7824) and PDS01ADC Alone and in Combination With Stereotactic Body Radiation Therapy (SBRT) in Adults With Metastatic Non-Prostate Genitourinary Malignancies

Background: Genitourinary cancers are some of the most common types of cancer. They are lethal when they spread. The drug M7824 blocks the paths that cancer cells use to stop the immune system from fighting cancer. The drug PDS01ADC triggers the immune system to fight cancer. Researchers want to learn if these drugs can help fight these cancers when given with and without Stereotactic Body Radiation Therapy (SBRT) radiation. Objective: To learn if M7824 and PDS01ADC, with or without SBRT, can help the immune system to fight cancer better. Eligibility: People 18 and older with cancer that started in the bladder, kidneys, or other genitourinary organs (but not the prostate) and has spread to other parts of the body. Design: Participants will be screened with: medical history physical exam ability to do their normal activities blood tests urine tests electrocardiogram body scans. Participants will give a tumor sample or have a tumor biopsy. Screening tests will be repeated during the study. Participants will get PDS01ADC . It is injected under the skin every 4 weeks. They will also get M7824 through an intravenous (IV) infusion every 2 weeks. For this, a small plastic tube is put into a vein in the arm. They will get these drugs in 28-day cycles until they leave the study. They may have SBRT. Participants will give tissue and saliva samples. Participants will have a follow-up visit 30 days after treatment ends. Then they will get phone calls or emails every 12 weeks indefinitely.

Riluzole For Preventing Cognitive Dysfunction in Ca Pts Receiving Chemo (REFOCUS): Pilot Trial

This is a phase II single-arm, Phase 2a, randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled pilot clinical trial determining efficacy of riluzole in preventing cognitive dysfunction in subjects with cancer, who are receiving chemotherapy.

Circulating Tumor DNA (ctDNA) for Early Treatment Response Assessment of Solid Tumors

Earlier detection of disease recurrence will enable greater treatment options and has strong potential to improve patient outcomes. This project is translational and has the potential to lead to future translational research opportunities, including interventional trials in which therapeutic escalation is offered at the early circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) molecular residual disease (MRD) detection timepoint. Ultimately, the integration of ctDNA into the clinical workflow has the potential to enhance cancer diagnosis, treatment, surveillance, and prognosis, and guide clinical decision-making in this era of personalized precision medicine.

Immune Checkpoint Inhibitor (ICI)-Drug-Drug Interaction (DDI) Study

Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) (also called "immunotherapy") are an effective family of anti-cancer drugs, but they can cause serious side effects. Some evidence suggests these side effects might happen because ICIs interact with other drugs that you may already be taking, making those drugs work differently, or causing more side effects. The purpose of this study is to see whether ICIs impact how the liver processes other drugs. To do this, participants will be given a probe cocktail of 7 different FDA-approved drugs that are processed in different ways in the liver.

A Multi-Center Natural History of Urothelial Cancer and Rare Genitourinary Tract Malignancies

Background: Tumors in the genitourinary tracts can occur in the kidney, bladder, prostate, and testicles and can have common and rare histologies. Some cancers that occur along the genitourinary (GU) tract are rare. Some GU tumors are so rare that they are not included in treatment studies or tissue banks. This makes it hard for researchers to determine standards of care. Researchers want to learn more about common and rare GU tumors. Objective: To learn more about urinary tract cancers. Eligibility: People ages 18 and older with urinary tract or GU cancer such as bladder, kidney, testicular, prostate, penis, or neuroendocrine cancer. Design: Participants will be screened with questions about their medical history. Their medical records will be reviewed. Participants will have a physical exam. They will give blood and urine samples. They will complete a survey about their family cancer history. Clinical photographs will be taken to document skin lesions. Participants may have imaging scans of their chest, abdomen, and pelvis. They may have a contrast agent injected into their arm. Participants will get recommendations about how to best manage and treat their cancer. They can ask as many questions as they would like. Participants will provide existing tumor samples if available. They may have optional tumor biopsies up to twice a year. For needle biopsies, the biopsy area will be numbed and they will get a sedative. A needle will be inserted through their skin to collect a tumor sample. For skin biopsies, their skin will be numbed. A small circle of skin will be removed. Some blood and tumor samples may be used for genetic tests. Participants will have frequent follow-up visits. If they cannot visit NIH, their home doctor will be contacted. They will be followed on this study for life....

Discharge Medication Use Post-Operatively in GU Cancer Patients

The main purpose of this research study is to determine the amount of opioids that are taken after discharge following a cystectomy, nephrectomy (partial or total), or prostatectomy surgeries via a 30-day post- discharge opioid use and disposal survey. We will also evaluate the impact of an opioid disposal education pamphlet on proper disposal of unused opioids.

Nivolumab Combined With Ipilimumab for Patients With Advanced Rare Genitourinary Tumors

This research study is studying a combination of drugs as a possible treatment for rare genitourinary malignancies among four cohorts, bladder or upper tract carcinoma with variant histology, adrenocortical carcinoma, other rare genitourinary carcinomas and any genitourinary carcinoma with neuroendocrine differentiation. Given preliminary results, the study is being tested in additional patients with bladder or upper tract carcinoma with variant histology at this time while the adrenocortical carcinoma, other rare genitourinary malignancies arms have closed to accrual -The names of the study drugs involved in this study are: * Nivolumab * Ipilimumab

Integrated Molecular Profiling in Advanced Cancers Trial

Substantial progress has been made in the treatment of cancer through the use of targeted therapies, but what works for one patient might not work for another patient. Certain drugs are now being developed that target specific molecules in the body that are believed to be part of the disease. Biomarkers are specific characteristics of the cancer that may help provide prognostic information (i.e. how well patients will be regardless of the treatments given) or help predict sensitivity or resistance to a specific treatment. The study will collect archival tumor samples (previously collected biopsy or surgical tumor samples) to provide biomarker data about a patient's cancer, in order to help their physicians to identify which clinical trials of molecularly targeted therapies may be most appropriate for the patient in the future.

An Intervention to Help Patients and Caregivers Manage Stress and Improve Communication Skills When Talking About Cancer

This study will test an intervention to improve patients' and their caregivers' ability to manage difficult emotions and communicate about the patient's illness. There will be two versions of the intervention used for this study: a culturally tailored version for Latinx participants refined during Phase 1 of this study, and a version of the intervention that was not culturally tailored for Latinx patients and caregivers developed in previous work. The two interventions differ in minor content areas. We will use the culturally tailored intervention for Latinx participants and the non-tailored intervention for non-Latinx participants. This culturally sensitive intervention has the potential to reduce Latino/a patient and caregiver distress and improve patient and caregiver quality of life, shared understanding of the patient's illness, and patients' and caregivers' ability to discuss, identify, and document patients' treatment preferences. The intervention is designed to minimize burden to patients, caregivers, and healthcare institutions to allow for easy integration into clinical practice.

PROMOTE: Identifying Predictive Markers of Response for Genitourinary Cancer

This is a tissue and blood collection protocol requiring image-guided biopsies of metastatic prostate cancer and other genitourinary malignancies including renal cell carcinoma and urothelial carcinoma. Whenever possible, a new bone lesion or new/progressing soft tissue lesion will be chosen for biopsy as opposed to radiographically stable lesion. Patients will be enrolled in into one of several parallel cohorts based upon disease status or type and the planned systemic therapy following baseline tumor biopsy: (A) Androgen signaling inhibition, (B) Immunotherapy, (C) Radiotherapy, (D) Targeted Therapy/Investigational therapeutic, (E) DNA damage response pathway, (F) Aggressive variant disease, (G1) Castration-sensitive ADT naïve and ADT \< 3 months), or (G2) Castration-sensitive pre-treated with sub-optimal PSA nadir \>0.2 ng/ml, (R) metastatic renal cell carcinoma and metastatic and (U) urothelial carcinoma.

Investigating the Effects of Atezolizumab in People Whose Tumour DNA or RNA Indicates Possible Sensitivity

This study will investigate the effects of atezolizumab on select cancer types in people whose analysis of tumour DNA and RNA indicates they may be sensitive to atezolizumab. This study aims to determine if the information from the cancer genome analysis corresponds with the effects of atezolizumab on individuals and their cancer. This is a Phase 2 study, which is undertaken after preliminary safety testing on a drug is completed, and will involve approximately 200 participants. Participants are assigned to one of 8 cohorts based on their primary tumour type: breast, lung, gastrointestinal (GI), primary unknown, genitourinary (GU), sarcoma, gynecological, and 'other' cancer types. Participants in all cohorts will receive the same dose of atezolizumab (1200 mg every 3 weeks). In the first stage for each cohort, 8 participants will be enrolled and if no participants respond to treatment, enrollment to that cohort will be closed. If 1 or more participants respond to treatment, up to 16 additional participants will be enrolled to that cohort. Participants continue on treatment until they no longer may benefit from the treatment or they decide to stop treatment.

Pathways to Advance Targeted and Helpful Serious Illness Conversations (PATH-SIC)

The purpose of this study is to increase serious illness conversations (SICs) about patients goals and preferences regarding their healthcare between patients with cancer and their oncology clinicians and improved care provided near the end of life.

Repurposing Riluzole for Cancer-Related Cognitive Impairment: A Pilot Trial

This is a phase 2a, randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled pilot clinical trial determining the impact of riluzole therapy on circulating brain derived neuropathic factor (BDNF) levels of cancer survivors with cancer related cognitive impairment.

High-resolution PET-CT Specimen Imaging for the Perioperative Visualization of Resection Margins

These are patients in whom a benign or malignant tumor was recorded requiring surgery. During that surgery, the surgeon will cut away the tumor as part of the treatment of the disease. In this process, it is important that the tumor is removed correctly and completely. To verify that the correct tissue was completely removed, the tissue is examined microscopically. However, a microscopic analysis takes a relatively long time and the result is not known until a few days after the surgery is completed. If that microscopic analysis should eventually reveal that the tumor was not completely removed, additional treatment is usually necessary. An assessment of the excised tissue during surgery would allow additional tissue to be excised in the same operation if necessary. Thus, in this way, additional treatments can also be avoided. This could lead to shorter treatment time and less emotional strain for the patient, as well as lower costs. To date, however, there are no effective techniques to do this. PositronEmissionTomography (PET) imaging can be used to image the tumor that needs to be excised. To do this, a tracer must be administered through the blood before the operation. This tracer is a slightly radioactive substance that can be detected by the PET camera even at low concentrations. This technique is already routinely used in the hospital to detect cancer or inflammatory tissue in the body. During this study, however, it's not the intention to look at the tumor while it is still in the patient's body, but rather after it has been cut out of the patient's body by the surgeon. To do this, the piece of tissue cut away will be scanned using a specially designed PET-CT scanner. The overall goal of this study is to gain additional knowledge. More specifically, the investigators wish to determine which medical conditions may benefit from high-resolution PET-CT specimen imaging.

Genomic Investigation of Unusual Responders

Studies have shown that tumors from the same patient may respond very differently to the same therapeutic agents. This study aims to investigate the genetic basis of tumors that respond abnormally well or poorly to therapeutic agents in an effort to understand the fundamental genetic basis of this response. The present protocol seeks to retrospectively perform Exome, next-generation (DNA) sequencing and/or other molecular techniques on tumor samples to identify the genetic basis of a patient's exceptional response to chemotherapy.

Impact of COVID-19 on GU Disease

The purpose of this research study is to identify patients with GU disease with active or past COVID-19 infection. Participants will be asked to: * Complete an Online COVID-19 Questionnaire. * Disclose if the patient has or had Genitourinary cancer or benign urologic condition * Provide urine specimen for research * Provide 4 tablespoons of blood for testing blood for research. * Provide permission to access medical records, such as patient lab results, medical history, imaging reports, etc.

Ontario-wide Cancer TArgeted Nucleic Acid Evaluation

Substantial progress has been made in the treatment of cancer through the use of targeted therapies, but what works for one patient might not work for another patient. Certain drugs are now being developed that target specific molecules in the body that are believed to be part of the disease. Biomarkers are specific characteristics of the cancer that may help provide prognostic information (e.g. how well patients will be regardless of the treatments given) or help predict sensitivity or resistance to a specific treatment. The study will collect archival tumor samples (previously collected biopsy or surgical tumor samples) to provide biomarker data about a patient's cancer, which may help their physicians to identify which clinical trials of new drug treatments may be most appropriate for the patient in the future and may also guide the use of approved treatments that may potentially benefit the patient. Another goal of this study is to develop a province-wide registry of targeted gene sequencing testing results that will be made available to cancer researchers. Additional tumour tissue and blood samples collected from all study participants will also be stored in a biobank at the Ontario Institute for Cancer Research for future research. The study will also look at linking data from this study to other health care databases to further collect information about the health care the patients received, including medical tests, clinic visits, or procedures both before and after participating in this study. Having more information about patient health to relate to the DNA sequences may provide new insights into cancer and its treatment.