Clinical Research Directory

Cancer Loyalty Card Study 2 (CLOCS-2)

Cancer is one of the leading causes of mortality worldwide and is responsible for an estimated 9.6 million deaths yearly. Cancer-related deaths can be reduced if patients are diagnosed and treated early. Delay in cancer diagnosis can occur at any point along the diagnostic spectrum, from the first observation of symptoms to the start of treatment. Diagnosing cancer when it is still at an early stage, before it has spread, gives surgery, radiotherapy and other treatments the best chance of working. Therefore, early diagnosis is the most important way to improve cancer outcomes.Most of the cancers usually presents with vague and non-alarming symptoms. Most individuals are diagnosed late when the cancer has already spread, and the prognosis is poor. There are over 200 different types of cancer that can cause many different signs and symptoms. Sometimes symptoms affect specific body areas, such as abdomen or skin. But signs can also be more general, and include weight loss, tiredness (fatigue) or unexplained pain. The type of symptoms varies from person to person. The major reasons for not presenting to the GP with symptoms such as these are "not wanting to waste the GP's time" and normalisation of these symptoms. The persistence of a symptom, social influence and awareness encourage help-seeking behaviours in primary care. However, few believe their symptom(s) might be a sign of cancer. Consequently, people might choose to self-manage their symptoms by using over-the-counter medication, and to seek advice from other sources, (pharmacists, family, internet), rather than a primary care physician. RATIONALE FOR CURRENT STUDY An early cancer diagnosis is essential for receiving treatment as early as possible to have the best chance for successful treatment. Early diagnosis of cancer can be challenging. Sometimes, the cancer symptoms resemble common illnesses and could resolve with the use of over-the-counter medications and other remedies until they become persistent or debilitating. The present study focuses on ten cancer forms: colon, oesophageal, stomach, liver, bladder, uterine, vulval, ovarian, endometrial and pancreatic. Patients diagnosed with the cancers mentioned above often report experiencing vague symptoms (such as abdominal or back pain, indigestion, feeling full etc). They often use over-the-counter medication to manage their symptoms before seeing a doctor. Information about how often and what products participants purchase (e.g. pain killers, digestive products and natural remedies) to care for these symptoms could help identify these cancers a few crucial weeks or months earlier and encourage people to seek help sooner from their doctors.

A Phase 1 First-In-Human Study of the Anti-CD73 IPH5301 Alone or in Combination With Chemotherapy and Trastuzumab in Patients With Advanced Solid Tumors

CHANCES-IPC 2021-008 is First In Human, Phase I, multicenter, European study evaluating an anti-CD73, IPH5301 in advanced and/or metastatic cancer. The trial will be conducted in two parts, Part I- Dose escalation: This part aims to identify the maximum tolerated dose (MTD) of IPH5301 agent in monotherapy and recommended phase 2 dose (RP2D) for future trials, followed by a safety expansion study part cohort. Part II- Expansion cohort: A total of 12 HER2-expressing breast cancer patients is planned to be enrolled into the next expansion cohort to select a recommended dose of IPH5301 to be administered in combination with chemotherapy and trastuzumab for evaluation in future trials with selected advanced solid tumors.

AUGMENTED RESPONSE OF VOLATILE BIOMARKERS IN THE ASSESSMENT OF OESOPHAGOGASTRIC CANCER (AROMA2)

Cancer of the stomach and oesophagus is among the world's top five cancers. Survival rates are very poor as the disease presents late and early symptoms are non-specific. The study team has developed a non-invasive test for cancers of the stomach and oesophagus based on the detection of volatile organic compounds in exhaled breath. These compounds are known to be produced by both cancers as well as cancer associated bacteria within the gut. The proposed innovation is to improve the accuracy of this test by investigating whether simple metabolic substrates can increase the production of these volatile organic compounds by both the tumour and its associated bacteria.

REVOLUTION Surgery (REVOLUTION Surgery)

Some people with cancer suffer from muscle wasting, lose weight and feel tired. This process, termed cachexia, is a significant problem and can lead to a reduction in both quality and quantity of life. Cachexia is caused by interactions between the tumour and the patient. Historically, it was considered to be a purely end-stage phenomenon of advanced cancer, however, it is now known that early signs of cachexia can even influence the outcomes of patients with potentially curative pathology, including those planned for a surgical resection. This study aims to collect information, from patients who are at risk of cachexia, about body composition, physical activity, quality of life and the body's immune response to cancer. Previously these measures have been most frequently studied in isolation, or at one single time-point, and are therefore likely to give an incomplete picture. A more holistic characterisation of surgical patients at risk of cancer cachexia, across their treatments, is currently lacking. Participants with cancer will be recruited to the study from surgical services in the United Kingdom (UK). A small number of 'control' patients without cancer, who are undergoing surgery for a benign condition, will also be recruited for comparison. Those recruited will have their height and weight measured, answer questionnaires about quality of life, undergo assessment of their physical function and levels of activity, have blood taken to analyse markers of inflammation and have their body composition measured by a variety of methods. A subgroup of patients will also undergo an additional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan of their abdomen and thighs. At the time of their operation, participants will also have small biopsies of muscle, fat, tumour and urine taken for biochemical analysis. Patients with cancer, will be asked to return for three follow up appointments during the year after their operation where these assessments will be repeated.

A Phase II Clinical Study Evaluating SSGJ-706 in Combination Therapy for Advanced Gastrointestinal Cancers

This study is a multicenter, open-label, phase II clinical trial evaluating the combination of SSGJ-706 with standard therapy for advanced gastrointestinal tumors. Its objective is to assess the safety, tolerability, and antitumor activity of SSGJ-706 in combination with standard treatment.

Evaluation of Seismocardiography(SCG) for Assessing Fitness and Predicting Outcomes in Oesophageal Cancer Surgery

Oesophageal cancer is a common cause of cancer death worldwide. Curative treatment involves chemotherapy and surgery but has significant risks. Therefore, patient selection and improving physical fitness to withstand such major treatment is important to reduce the risk of complications. Physical fitness is traditionally measured by a specialised exercise test called Cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPET), which can take up to one hour and requires specialised staff and expensive equipment such as a graded exercise bike or treadmill. Seismofit is a small device (smaller than a smartphone) used to estimate fitness in patients in under three minutes while lying down at rest. It measures the vibrations generated by the heart and, together with patient height, weight, age, and gender, accurately estimates fitness using an algorithm developed in healthy patients. The device has never been tested in a large group of oesophageal cancer patients to see if it can be used to predict complications in patients undergoing cancer treatment. In this study, patients undergoing Oesophageal cancer treatment with chemotherapy or chemoradiotherapy and surgery will have Seismofit measurements at various points during their treatment to see if we can predict complications and hospital stay. Secondly, this study will also evaluate the accuracy of Seismofit compared to the gold standard CPET results in cancer patients.

A Phase I/IIa Trial of HMBD-001 in Advanced HER3 Positive Solid Tumours

This clinical trial is evaluating a drug called HMBD-001 (an anti-HER3 monoclonal antibody) in participants with advanced HER3 positive solid tumours. The main aims are to find out the best dose of HMBD-001 that can be given to participants alone and in combination with other anti-cancer agents, more about the potential side effects of HMBD-001 and how they can be treated, and what happens to HMBD-001 inside the body and how it affects cancer cells.

Esophageal Self-expandable Metal Stent for Malignant Strictures: a Safety and Efficacy Study

A single center prospective observational non-randomized clinical study to assess the safety and efficacy of placement of a new esophageal self-expandable metal stent (SEMS) for palliation of patients with malignant dysphagia.

PULSO Trial: Pulsed Low-Dose-Rate (PLDR) Radiation Chemoradiation (CRT) vs. Standard CRT for Esophageal Cancer

This is a prospective, randomized, open-label, two-arm phase 2 trial that will evaluate whether the use of Pulsed Low-Dose-Rate radiation technique, as compared to standard radiation, is associated with reduced rates of clinically significant esophagitis during and following chemoradiation.

PD-1 Inhibitor Combined With Neoadjuvant Chemoradiotherapy Plus Surgery for Locally Advanced ESCC (NEOCRTEC2101)

The primary objective is to compare PD-1 inhibitor combined with preoperative chemoradiotherapy followed by surgery versus neo-adjuvant chemoradiotherapy followed by surgery, in terms of the overall survival time (OS) in patients with Stage T1-4aN1-3M0 or T3-4aN0M0 squamous cell esophageal carcinoma.

Use of Different Enteral Feeds to Impact on Chyle Leaks in Oesophagectomy

Oesophagectomy (surgery to remove a cancerous portion of the oesophagus or gullet) is the cornerstone of treating oesophageal cancer. In recent years, minimally invasive techniques, including robotic assisted oesophagectomy have been introduced. These techniques reduce stress on patients, reduce pain, reduce the length of stay in hospital after their operation, without compromising cancer outcomes (and in some cases improving cancer outcomes). Any surgery carries the risk of complications. One complication that may arise with oesophagectomy is an increase in chyle leaks. Chyle is a fluid produced by the body that helps transport nutrients from the bowel to the bloodstream to allow them to be absorbed and processed. One of the channels that transports chyle, the thoracic duct, is divided as part of an oesophagectomy. Although it is clipped to reduce the risk of chyle leak, this may still occur, in up to 25% of operations. If a chyle leak occurs, a drainage tube needs to remain in the chest for a number of days, there may be alterations in the use of feeding techniques, and in a small portion of cases, there may need to be an operation to stop a leak, or a procedure in the radiology department. The goal of this study is to see whether use of a different type of post-operative feed (medium chain triglyceride or MCT feeds) can reduce the rate of chyle leak. This is already used to treat chyle leaks, and the question is whether using this as the routine post-operative feed can reduce rates of chyle leakage.

Volatile Organic Compounds as Breath Biomarkers in Squamous Oesophageal Neoplasms

Oesophageal Squamous Cell Carcinoma (OSCC) is a cancer of the food pipe that affects around 2000 patients in the UK every year. It is often detected at an advanced stage, resulting in poor survival (5-year survival less than 20%). Early detection can improve survival (5-year survival \>70%). Therefore, early detection is vital to improving survival. There are no national screening guidelines, and an endoscopy (A camera test to look at the food pipe) is the only available test to detect OSCC. Early detection of OSCC is challenging for many reasons. Firstly, early disease symptoms are non-specific, which patients often overlook. Secondly, 'Alarm' symptoms such as weight loss, difficulty swallowing or vomiting blood are signs of advanced stage. Lastly, endoscopy is an invasive test with associated risks and significant discomfort. The investigators propose to develop a breath test for patients with non-specific symptoms. Breath testing has the ideal characteristics for a triage test because it is non-invasive, simple to perform, cost-effective and highly acceptable to patients. The test is based on identifying volatile organic compounds (VOCs, small molecules) that are produced by the cancer and released in breath. The breath test will be offered by General Practitioners (GPs) to patients with non-specific symptoms. Those who test positive will be referred for an urgent camera test, and those who test negative can be reassured.

Do Changes in ctDNA Predict Response for Patients With Oesophageal Cancer Receiving Durvalumab

Patients with cancer are increasingly being treated with drugs designed to modulate the response of their immune system, broadly to boost their body's defences against cancer. However, there is an unmet need to identify which patients are unlikely to benefit. Deciding on benefit from therapy uses standard imaging methods (e.g. CT scans), which can take time (months) whereas DNA in the bloodstream could be measured more rapidly. The main aim of this study is to assess whether changes in the level of circulating tumour DNA (ctDNA) can quickly determine a patients response. This would enable patients to change therapies more quickly if they are not responding and reduce exposure to unnecessary side effects.

The Australia and New Zealand Multicentre Upper Gastrointestinal Endoscopic Tissue Resection Study

To determine the long term outcomes of Endoscopic Submucosal Dissection (ESD), Endoscopic Full Thickness Resection (EFTR) and Submucosal-Tunnelling Endoscopic Resection (STER) for upper gastrointestinal neoplastic lesions

Cardiopulmonary Toxicity of Thoracic Radiotherapy

Radiotherapy improves locoregional control and survival of thoracic tumour patients. However, the associated exposure of normal tissues, often leads to side effects and possibly even reduces survival. Indeed, there is growing evidence that overall survival after radiotherapy for lung and oesophageal cancer is related to the radiation dose to heart and lungs. This suggests that thoracic radiotherapy causes mortality, which is currently not recognized as radiation-induced toxicity. So the question arises how to explain this treatment-related mortality. Interestingly, Ghobadi et al demonstrated in rats that thoracic irradiation can lead to pulmonary hypertension (PH). Histopathological analysis showed that radiation-induced PH closely resembles the pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) subtype. Moreover, in a clinical pilot study we confirmed early signs of PH including dose-dependent reductions in blood flow towards the lungs in radiotherapy patients. In general PH significantly affects survival. Moreover, the PAH subtype is the most-rapidly progressive and lethal subtype. However, medical treatment can significantly slow down PAH progression, providing opportunities for secondary prevention. Yet, hard evidence that radiation-induced PH is a clinically relevant phenomenon in patients treated for thoracic tumours, is lacking.

Modulated Mid-frequency Whole-body Electromyostimulation and Nutritional Therapy in Gastrointestinal Cancer Patients

The purpose of this study is to assess the efficacy of modulated mid-frequency whole-body electromyostimulation (WB-EMS) combined with nutritional therapy in patients with gastrointestinal cancer.

Multicenter Validation Trial of [18F]AlF-FAPI-74 for PET Imaging of Cancer-associated Fibroblasts Through Fibroblast Activation Protein Inhibitors (FAPI) in Different Tumor Types

The aim of the project is to demonstrate superior detection ratio of \[18F\]AlF-FAPI-74 PET/CT compared to \[18F\]FDG PET/CT or conventional imaging in treatment-naïve, newly diagnosed patients with oesophagogastric adenocarcinoma (clinical T1-4N0-3M0) and pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (clinical T1-4N0-2M0-1) and describe the clinical utility of \[18F\]AlF-FAPI-74 PET/CT in oncological patients with a clinically challenging situation.

Augmented Response of Volatile Biomarkers in Assessment of Oesophagogastric Cancer (AROMA 1 / BIORESOURCE)

Cancer of the stomach and oesophagus is among the world's top five cancers. Survival rates are very poor as the disease presents late and early symptoms are non-specific. The study team has developed a non-invasive test for cancers of the stomach and oesophagus based on the detection of volatile organic compounds in exhaled breath. These compounds are known to be produced by both cancers as well as cancer associated bacteria within the gut. The proposed innovation is to improve the accuracy of this test by investigating whether simple metabolic substrates can increase the production of these volatile organic compounds by both the tumour and its associated bacteria.

Profiling Microbiome Associated Metabolic Pathways in Oesophageal Cancer Survivors

The goal of this observational study is to learn about long term symptoms in oesophageal cancer survivors. The main question it aims to answer is are: * Study the changes in gut bacteria by examining saliva, stool and blood. * Investigate the products of bacteria in breath to develop a non-invasive breath test to detect the changes in gut bacteria. * Develop new strategies to treat this change and trial new treatments to improve quality- of-life in oesophageal cancer survivors. Participants will attend an outpatient clinic, fasted for at least 4 hours for collection of breath, saliva, blood, urine, stool and complete validated healthy-related quality-of-life questionnaires. Researchers will compare symptomatic and asymptomatic participants to detect the changes stated above.

A Value-Driven Study on Reducing Immune Checkpoint Inhibitor Dosing Frequency in Advanced Cancers

This study is a prospective, open label, multi-centre phase 2 trial which assesses the efficacy and safety of standard dosing compared to extended dosing interval of nivolumab, atezolizumab or pembrolizumab in advanced/unresectable gastric/gastroesophageal junction/oesphageal adenocarcinomas with PDL1 CPS ≥5%, hepatocellular carcinoma andnon-small cell lung cancer with PDL1 TPS≥50% with no prior treatment. The investigators hypothesize that nivolumab, pembrolizumab and atezolizumab can be used efficiently at extended dosing intervals, compared to their approved labels with comparable clinical outcome.

Understanding the Variation of Modern Endoscopic Ultrasound Use in Patients with Oesophageal Cancer (VALUE)

This is an observational trial that will look at patients undergoing endoscopic ultrasound (EUS) in patients with oesophageal cancer and to determine the proportion of cases in which EUS changes disease management in these patients.

Post Oesophagectomy Outcomes in a Single Regional Centre in Australia

Literature review/rationale for project * Oesophageal cancer is associated with a grim prognosis despite many advances in treatment. Oesophagectomy is a key component of the care of patients who are candidates for curative treatment, however it is associated with substantial morbidity. * Several studies have suggested that oesophagectomies performed at higher volume tertiary centres are associated with lower morbidity and mortality than lower volume centres, and this has prompted changes to policy in countries such as Great Britain, Canada and the Netherlands with regards to the centralisation of these cases. A higher volume centre within Australia is likely to perform 6 or more procedures per year. * Currently within Australia, centralisation on a large scale has not occurred. This has been limited in part by resource provision and geographical barriers. Therefore, oesophagectomies in Australia are still routinely performed in regional centres. However, there is a paucity of recent outcomes data from these centres. Aims/objectives * Retrospective review of oesophagectomies undertaken in a single regional centre in Tasmania, Australia over 10 years (January 2014 to December 2023) * Assess outcomes (long and short-term complications and mortality) and compare to morbidity and mortality rates from larger international centres

TGF-β And PDL-1 Inhibition in Esophageal Squamous Cell Carcinoma Combined With Chemoradiation TheRapY

The primary objective of this study is to assess the feasibility of treatment with bintrafusp alfa combined with definitive chemoradiation (carboplatin, paclitaxel and radiation) in patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the esophagus or gastroesophageal junction.

PRIORITY-CONNECT 2 Pilot Trial

The provision of preoperative interventions (prehabilitation: including exercise, nutrition, and psychological treatment) have been reported to reduce postoperative complications by as much as 50% and reduce hospital stay by up to 4 days compared to standard of care. Postoperative multimodal interventions are likely to further benefit patients facing new challenges (e.g. stoma care), and reduce post discharge complications. Therefore the Virtual Multimodal hub of PRIORITY-CONNECT 2 Pilot Trial aims to primarily; determine the feasibility of incorporating a virtual multimodal program into the preoperative and postoperative period for patients undergoing gastrointestinal cancer surgery, the acceptability to patients, clinicians and carers of the virtual multimodal program and the acceptability to patients of being randomised to the virtual multimodal program or usual care. The secondary aim is to obtain pilot data on the likely difference in key outcomes (30 days postoperative complications, quality of life, days at home and alive at 30 days - DAH30, implementation outcomes and cost outcomes) to inform the development of a substantive randomised clinical trial.