Clinical Research Directory

SENTInel Node Mapping Versus Comprehensive Lymphadenectomy in p53-Mutated Endometrial Cancer: A Non-Inferiority Randomized Trial

This study evaluates surgical strategies for treating patients with FIGO 2023 stage I and II high-risk endometrial cancer (EC) exhibiting p53 mutations. The trial aims to assess whether a less invasive sentinel lymph node (SLN) mapping approach provides non-inferior oncological outcomes compared to the current standard of systematic pelvic and para-aortic lymphadenectomy (PL+PALND). By minimizing surgical morbidity, this study seeks to determine if SLN mapping can safely replace comprehensive lymphadenectomy without compromising disease-free survival (DFS). Eligible patients will be randomized to undergo either sentinel lymph node mapping or complete lymphadenectomy, followed by standard hysterectomy and bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy. The primary outcome is DFS at 36 months, with secondary outcomes including overall survival, disease-specific survival, perioperative complications, and quality of life.

The Value of Indocyanine Green-guided Near-infrared Fluorescence Technology in Tracing Sentinel Lymph Nodes During Esophagectomy

Sentinel lymph nodes, as the primary site of tumor metastasis, play a pivotal role in assessing patient prognosis and planning subsequent treatment strategies. The investigators plan to conduct a multicenter, prospective cohort study to evaluate the effectiveness of indocyanine green (ICG)-guided near-infrared imaging in tracing sentinel lymph node during esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) surgery, compared with the gold standard of complete lymph node dissection (CLND), in detecting metastatic disease. This study aims to address the following core questions: 1. In ESCC patients undergoing surgery, can sentinel lymph node biopsy reduce unnecessary lymph node dissection? 2. In ESCC patients undergoing surgery, can reducing lymph node dissection decrease postoperative complications such as chylothorax and weakened immunity? During the study, ICG will be injected around the tumor under intraoperative gastroscopy guidance, followed by tracking of fluorescent lymph nodes using a thoracoscopic near-infrared camera. Professional thoracic surgeons will group and mark these lymph nodes for intraoperative frozen pathology. Subsequent CLND and routine postoperative pathology will be performed. This study will collect patients' clinical information, ICG imaging results, pathological examination results, and other data for statistical analysis to assess the sensitivity and negative predictive value (NPV) of the ICG imaging system. If the study results support the effectiveness of the ICG imaging system, it has the potential to become an important tool for sentinel lymph node localization and biopsy in future ESCC surgeries, helping to reduce unnecessary lymph node resection and improve surgical efficiency and safety. Participants will: 1. Undergo minimally invasive ESCC surgery within 2 weeks of enrollment, including the 14th day. 2. Receive ICG injection around the tumor under intraoperative gastroscopy guidance during surgery. 3. Have perioperative, postoperative pathology, and complication information recorded. 4. Undergo standardized follow-up after surgery.

Prophylactic Lymphovenous Bypass Procedure Following Inguinal Lymphadenectomy: A Prospective Observational Study

To learn if LBP can help to prevent lymphedema when it is performed at the time of surgery rather than after a patient has already developed the disease.

Immediate Lymphatic Reconstruction After Lymphadenectomy in Melanoma Patients: a Parallel Cohort Pilot Study

To learn if LBP can help to prevent lymphedema when it is performed at the time of surgery rather than after a patient has already developed the disease.

Right Colectomy for Colon Cancer Database (RCC). Surgical Technique, Route of Access and Quality of the Specimen

Aim of the project is to surveil results after extended lymphadenectomy for right sided colon resection for cancer with different operative techniques. Patients operated for right sided colon cancer will be involved. There are different operative methods used in terms of extend of lymphadenectomy and access (open, laparoscopic and robotic assisted) that are already implemented. The Norwegian standard operation contains less extended lymph node dissection. Patients operated by the standard method will serve as control group. Choice of access and extend of lymph node dissection in Norway is dependant on the surgeon and hospital. At Haukeland University Hospital extend and access of surgery are determined by a multidisciplinary team meeting. More radical surgery might result in more complications and the benefit for the patients in terms of oncological result and survival is uncertain. At Haukeland University Hospital, extended lymphadenectomy has been mostly performed by open surgery. During the study phase we will introduce extended lymphadenectomy by laparoscopy and robotassisted surgery. Hypothesis is that more radical surgery performed by minimal invasive surgery will result in equal or better oncological results, and less complications, shorter hospital stay and better quality of life. As method we choose a prospective observational study. All eligible patients with adenocarcinoma of the right colon without another ongoing oncological treatment for other cancers will be included. Patientdata will be prospectively registered in a web-based database. Aim of the study will be to define the optimal extend of lymphadenectomy to achieve the best oncological result. In addition, we will analyse the results dependent on the surgical access (open, laparoscopic or robotic). The assumed difference between the operative methods is small. Therefore, the study is designed and approved as a multicenter registration in order to achieve the necessary statistical power.

Application of Indocyanine Green Tracer in D2 Lymphadenectomy of Locally Advanced Gastric Cancer

Gastric cancer is a frequent neoplasm in the world, presenting more than one million new cases and around 768,000 deaths in the data registered in 2020. Among the therapeutic options for gastric cancer, surgery is an essential pillar for its treatment. Gastric cancer surgery consists of gastric resection with negative margins and radical lymphadenectomy in patients without distant metastases. It has been demonstrated over the years that radical lymphadenectomy in gastric cancer allows for adequate staging and improved long-term survival. In order to perform a correct staging using the TNM system, it is necessary to resect at least 15 lymph nodes in the radical lymphadenectomy. For radical lymphadenectomy staging, the Japanese Gastric Cancer Association defined and subdivided nodal stations. Three types of lymphadenectomy are described according to oncologic gastric resections (D1, D1+ and D2), with D2 lymphadenectomy being the standard of treatment for locally advanced gastric tumors. Performing an insufficient or inadequate lymphadenectomy has been shown to negatively impact survival after gastrectomy in such a cohort. The development of technology based on fluorescence guided by indocyanine green could improve the technique and results of D2 lymphadenectomy in patients with gastric cancer. There is evidence that the application of ICG in D2 lymphadenectomy increases the number of resected nodes, however, studies of higher scientific quality (randomized clinical trials) are needed. Furthermore, most studies in this field have focused on Eastern countries (Japan, Korea and China), where the percentage of early tumors and chemotherapy treatment is different from Western centers. Therefore, we propose a multicenter randomized clinical trial aimed at evaluating whether the application of ICG-guided fluorescence-based technology in D2 lymphadenectomy of locally advanced gastric cancer increases the number of resected nodes, improves the oncologic quality of the lymphadenectomy, and thus may increase overall survival and disease-free survival at 2 and 5 years postoperatively.

Comparison of Transvaginal Paracervical and Transperitoneal Approaches in Lymphadenectomy During v-NOTES Surgery for Patients Diagnosed With Endometrial Cancer

The aim of this study is to compare two types of lymphadenectomy (transperitoneal vs. paracervical) during the lymphadenectomy phase of endometrial cancer staging surgery performed using V-NOTES, a new and advanced technique. This study seeks to optimize the V-NOTES technique for endometrial cancer staging. This randomized, prospective, controlled study will include patients diagnosed with endometrial cancer via histology, following physical examination and imaging, and who are electively scheduled for the V-NOTES endometrial cancer staging procedure. Patients will be randomized into two groups: the transvaginal paracervical lymphadenectomy group and the transperitoneal lymphadenectomy group. The parameters related with surgical and functional outcomes will be compared in both groups.

Evaluation of Intra-operative Photographs for the Assessment of a Proper Lymphadenectomy in Minimally-invasive Gastrectomies for Gastric Cancer (PhotoNodes)

Even after the wide introduction of chemo/radiotherapy in the treatment algorithm, adequate surgery remains the cornerstone of gastric cancer treatment with curative intent. A proper D2 lymphadenectomy is associated with improved cancer specific survival as confirmed in Western countries by fifteen-year follow-up results of Dutch and Italian randomized trials. In clinical practice, the total number of harvested lymph nodes is often considered as a surrogate marker for adequate D2 lymphadenectomy; nonetheless, the number of retrieved nodes does not necessarily correlate with residual nodes, which intuitively could represent a more reliable marker of surgical adequacy. The availability of an efficient tool for evaluating the absence of residual nodes in the operative field at the end of node dissection could better correlate with survival outcomes. The goal of this multicentric observational prospective study is to test the reliability of a new score (PhotoNodes Score) created to rate the quality of the lymphadenectomy performed during minimally invasive gastrectomy for gastric cancer. The score is assigned by assessing the absence of residual nodes at the end of node dissection on a set of laparoscopic/robotic high quality intraoperative images collected from each patient undergoing a minimally invasive gastrectomy with D2 node dissection. Ideally, this tool could be a new indicator of the quality of D2 dissection and could assume a prognostic role in the treatment of gastric cancer.

Lymphadenectomy in Early Ovarian Cancer

To assess the impact of comprehensive staging surgery with no lymphadenectomy on survival and quality of life in patients with early-stage ovarian cancer.