Clinical Research Directory

Stress Reduction Through Acupuncture

This randomized controlled trial evaluates whether eight weeks of weekly acupuncture can reduce psychological distress in breast cancer patients who have recently completed primary therapy compared to standard-of-care wait-list control.

A Study Comparing Music Therapy and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Anxiety in Cancer Survivors

The researchers are doing this study to compare how music therapy and cognitive behavioral therapy, given virtually, may be able to reduce anxiety in people who have had cancer. In addition, this study will see if certain factors affect how well participants respond to music therapy or cognitive behavioral therapy. For example, the researchers will see if personal characteristics (like age, sex, race, and education) and ways of thinking (like expectations of therapy) may affect how well participants respond.

BfedBwell Optimization Pilot

Using the Multiphase Optimization Strategy (MOST) framework, an engineering-based approach to efficiently and systematically develop, optimize, and evaluate behavioral interventions, this study will test three components: (1) 1:1 counseling with a registered dietitian, (2) behavioral skills development, and (3) group support for delivery alongside a core nutrition curriculum within a clinical exercise oncology program.

Survival Monitoring in Russian Cancer Registries

This study aims to establish a holistic framework for continuous cancer survival surveillance in Russian regions with high-quality population-based cancer registry data. The data from the population-based cancer registries of the Northwestern regions of Russia will be used to assess net and cause-specific survival trends.

Yoga to Improve Disparities in Cancer Survivorship

This clinical trial tests the impact of a racially concordant trainer led yoga program on quality of life and symptom burden in Black and/or African American cancer survivors. Black individuals in the United States are more affected by cancer, despite modern advances. Cancer treatments can impact physical and mental health and overall quality of life and Black individuals report worse physical function and quality of life and less access to culturally appropriate support services. Yoga has been shown to have a positive impact on cancer and cancer treatment related symptoms and quality of life, however, a one size fits all approach has not been shown to be effective in diverse populations. A trainer that shares the same racial or ethnic background as the participant (racially concordant) may have a positive impact on communication, trust, and may improve accessibility and participation. Participating in a yoga program led by a racially concordant trainer may improve quality of life and symptom burden in Black and/or African American cancer survivors.

On-Trac: An Online Intervention for Cancer Survivors Managing Anxiety

This study is evaluating On-Trac (Online Training After Cancer), an online educational intervention to teach adult cancer survivors strategies to address anxiety based on Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and Acceptance Commitment Therapy (ACT) The name of the study intervention is Online Training After Cancer (On-Trac)

Effects of Aerobic Exercise on Cancer-Related Biomarkers, Functional Capacity, Cognitive Status and Quality of Life in Women With Breast Cancer

This study aims to emphasize the exercise-induced changes in some circulating biomarkers (CRP, IGF-1(insulin like growth factor), insulin, leptin, IL-6(interleukin-6) , TNF-α(tumor necrosis factor), adiponectin), quality of life, functional capacity, cognitive functions and after aerobic exercise in women diagnosed with breast cancer in remission period. The women who will participate in the study consist of breast cancer survivors aged 18-65 years. The hypothesis of this study: Exercise program in women diagnosed with breast cancer in remission positively affects the levels of circulating biomarkers CRP, IGF-1, insulin, leptin, IL-6, TNFα and adiponectin, and improves quality of life, functional capacity, and cognitive functions. Participants will be divided into 3 groups. The first group will receive moderate intensity aerobic exercise 3 times a week for 12 weeks. The second group will receive physical activity counseling by a physiotherapist for 12 weeks. The third group will continue their daily routines and no intervention will be performed. The evaluations will be repeated three times for all three groups: at baseline, after six weeks and after twelve weeks.

UNC Childhood, Adolescent, and Young Adult Cancer Cohort

Purpose: This study aims to create a registry of childhood, adolescent, and young adult patients with cancer (\<40 years-old at cancer diagnosis), entitled the 'UNC Childhood, Adolescent, and Young Adult Cancer Cohort' (UNC-CAYACC). This resource will serve to support cancer outcomes research among pediatric and young adult cancer patients with a primary focus on enrolling patients treated as adolescents or young adults (AYAs, 15-39 years). Procedures: As appropriate for age, participants will complete physical and cognitive functional assessments; questionnaires to assess health-related quality of life and other patient-reported outcomes; will undergo body composition and anthropometric measurements; and will be asked to provide biospecimens for biobanking. Assessments will be collected (as possible) at diagnosis, during active treatment, following treatment completion, and annually in survivorship to assess outcomes throughout the treatment and survivorship trajectory. Sociodemographic and clinical information such as cancer treatment modalities and cumulative doses will be collected by medical record abstraction. Participants will be eligible to enroll at any time from diagnosis through survivorship. This registry will provide data to better understand the manifestations of accelerated aging and key contributing factors among children, adolescents, and young adults with cancer.

Development and Evaluation of a Screening Approach for Sexual Dysfunction in AYA Patients With and Surviving Childhood Cancer

Prior research determined adolescent and young adult-aged childhood cancer survivor (AYA-CCS) and medical provider acceptability of the SexFS Brief in a controlled research setting. Development of an acceptable, effective, and feasible screening approach will result in improved recognition of SD in AYA patients with and surviving childhood cancer.

PI-targeted PNE+MI Compared to BIOMEDICAL Education in BCS

Breast cancer is the most frequently diagnosed cancer in women worldwide. An important portion of the breast cancer survivors will face chronic pain complaints. These pain complaints do not only impact the patient's quality of life but also prevents resumption of activities, leading to huge economic costs. 30% of all breast cancer survivors with pain present with perceived injustice which has been conceptualized as a multidimensional appraisal process characterized by a tendency to interpret one's losses as severe and irreparable, to attribute blame to others for one's suffering and to experience a sense of unfairness. Perceived injustice is also associated with increased opioid prescription and use, urging the need for targeted interventions to diminish perceived injustice. Despite the fact that specific treatment plans for perceived injustice are not yet proven, pain neuroscience education (PNE) is proven to reassure and encourage towards activity. In order to obtain the targeted behavioural change, motivational interviewing (MI) is used as the communication process throughout PNE. A multi-centre, parallel, two-arm, investigator-blinded study with 4-weeks intervention and two years follow-up will be conducted in 156 BCS with PI and pain. These will be randomly assigned to the intervention or usual care group. The groups will receive 1 online session, an information leaflet and 3 live sessions of education spread over 4 weeks. Pain neuroscience education in combination with motivational interviewing will be given in the experimental group and biomedically-focused education to the control group. The primary scientific objective of the study is to examine whether perceived injustice-targeted PNE is superior to biomedically-focused pain education in reducing pain after 12 months in breast cancer survivors with perceived injustice and pain. The secondary objectives of the study are to examine whether perceived injustice-targeted PNE, compared to biomedically-focused pain education, results in improving health-related quality of life, reducing perceived injustice and opioid use after 24 months in breast cancer survivors with perceived injustice and pain, and to conduct a health-care cost analysis which will finally result in a recommendation concerning the use of perceived injustice-targeted PNE in breast cancer survivors with perceived injustice and pain.

RESPONSE: Colorectal Cancer Survivors' Follow-up Care - Now Digital and Need-based

Over the last decades, the 3-year recurrence rates for patients with stage I and II colorectal cancer have decreased to just 5% and 12%. The follow-up program offered to stage I and low-risk stage II patients has not changed accordingly and is still focused solely on recurrence detection. Moreover, it is a one-size-fits-all program, i.e. most of the follow-up resources are spent on non-recurrence patients who do not benefit. Up to 50% of cancer survivors suffer from reduced quality of life related to fear of cancer recurrence, treatment-related psychological distress, and/or severe late adverse effects of a biopsychosocial and/or organ-specific origin. Today many of these symptoms can be treated effectively. However, no systematic program aimed at monitoring and addressing the symptoms has been implemented yet. The current project is testing a newly developed, digitally managed, patient-centered follow-up program that focuses on individual patient needs, including fear of cancer recurrence, psychological well-being, management of late adverse effects, and recurrence surveillance. This new program will be compared to the current standard of care in a national network of 11 colorectal cancer surgical centers in four of five Danish regions. Patients in the intervention group will receive the following: 1. Risk-stratified circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) guided recurrence surveillance. 2. Late adverse effects monitoring with electronic patient-reported outcome measures, which are validated questionnaires that can identify and qualify late adverse effects. 3. Systematic treatment for organ-specific and/or biopsychosocial late adverse effects. 4. A digital care guide, to support the patient trajectory through the follow-up program, as a smartphone app. Patients in the standard group will receive standard-of-care follow-up. The primary study endpoint will be the difference in health-related quality of life between the intervention and standard group. Secondary outcomes include e.g., comparison of health-related costs, differences in fear of cancer recurrence, recurrence-free survival, and patient satisfaction. The investigators expect the new follow-up program to be better than the standard-of-care program in terms of the primary endpoint - quality of life - without compromising recurrence detection, and without increasing costs.

Human-centered Injury Thrivorship Pathway for Survivors of Physical Trauma

The goal of this clinical trial is to pilot and evaluate a human-centered injury thrivorship pathway in injury survivors. The main question it aims to answer is: • Is the pathway appropriate, acceptable, and feasible to meet the medical and social needs of injury survivors? Injury survivors will be purposively sampled to enroll in the pathway and asked to participate in in-depth interviews and their use of pathway resources will be tracked.

Study of a Support Program for Quality of Life in Chinese Cancer Patients and Survivors

The purpose of this study is to evaluate different combinations of cancer education sessions, counseling sessions, and peer support meetings developed for Chinese cancer patients and survivors. The researchers will look at whether the combinations are practical and effective, and how they impact participants' quality of life.

Linking In With Advice and Supports for Men Impacted by Metastatic Cancer

To evaluate the feasibility of introducing a men's cancer survivorship programme into routine follow up care in patients with advanced genitourinary malignancies.

NOURISH-T+: Promoting Healthy Eating and Exercise Behaviors

Pediatric cancer survivors are at an increased risk of excessive weight gain and reduced exercise behaviors with the potential for this risk to worsen over time. With over 80% of pediatric cancer patients living to adulthood, many pediatric cancer survivors experience long-term health consequences such as heart disease - the leading cause of death in this population. The purpose of this clinical research study is to teach parents/caregivers skills that will help prevent and reduce the problems of obesity in childhood cancer survivors. In this study, parents have the opportunity to participate in one of two web-based groups in which parents in either group will learn valuable information to improve the health of their child and of themselves.

Danish Vulva Cancer Recurrence Study

The overall aim is to investigate different aspects of recurrence detection in women with vulva cancer (VC) to identify optimal treatment- and surveillance programs. DaVulvaRec is a Danish nationwide multicenter study with patient inclusion from Aarhus University Hospital and Rigshospitalet, Denmark. Applying a mixed method research design, the investigators will collect and analyze patient-reported outcome measures in combination with procedural data to evaluate symptomatology and map actions taken during the patient's pathway from primary disease to recurrence. Furthermore, the investigators aim to examine if circulating tumor-DNA (ctDNA) can be detected in liquid biopsies from VC patients. All patients will be followed for two years or until recurrence. Patient-reported outcome measures will be completed every four months during surveillance, and liquid biopsies will be collected prospectively for later analyses. Total number of patients to be included is 295 according to a power calculation. All patients in the clinical study will be included in the intervention group, while data on a historical control group will be obtained from The Danish Gynecological Cancer Database. Hence, the control group will consist of 1000 VC patients diagnosed between 2011-2022. Hypotheses: * All patients with VC will have specific tumor markers in the primary tumor that will be detectable in liquid biopsies as ctDNA at the time of diagnosis. * Measurement of ctDNA after primary treatment and during surveillance will allow detection of residual disease, improve allocation for adjuvant treatment, and will allow early detection of recurrent VC. * Proactive use of repeated PROM assessments in combination with procedural actions during surveillance will allow early detection of recurrent VC and early identification of late effects after treatment.

Velopharyngeal Dysfunction in Head & Neck Cancer Patients, Pilot Study

Some head and neck cancer survivors develop velopharyngeal dysfunction (VPD), a problem with closure between the soft palate and throat that can cause nasal-sounding speech, food or liquid leaking into the nose, difficulty swallowing, and reduced quality of life. This study aims to better understand VPD in this population and to evaluate whether pharyngeal wall augmentation (plumping up the back wall of the throat) can improve speech and swallowing. Participants will undergo a multidisciplinary assessment including physical examination, flexible nasolaryngoscopy, speech recording and acoustic analysis, nasometry, clinical swallowing evaluation, and fiberoptic endoscopic evaluation of swallowing (FEES). Aim 1: Determine the prevalence, severity, and functional impact of VPD in head and neck cancer survivors. Aim 2: Assess the feasibility and usefulness of advanced diagnostic tools for VPD. The investigators hypothesize that high nasalance scores (\>1 SD above normal) will accurately predict VPD with at least 75% positive predictive value and will correlate with worse communication-related quality of life (CPIB). The investigators also hypothesize that participants with VPD will have more pharyngeal residue or nasal regurgitation on FEES, and that these findings will be associated with lower swallowing-related quality of life (SWAL-QOL). Aim 3: Evaluate the effectiveness of pharyngeal wall augmentation injections for improving speech intelligibility and swallowing function. The investigators expect that this treatment will lead to measurable changes in both objective assessments and patient-reported outcomes. The results will help improve diagnosis and management of VPD in head and neck cancer survivors.

Association Between Exercise, Patient-Reported Outcomes, and Clinical Events in Adult Cancer Survivors

This protocol is a retrospective study using observational data to conduct a target trial emulation to examine the association of exercise on cancer specific endpoints and other clinical outcomes in cancer survivors.

Remote Exercise Video Adaptations to Maximize Physical Activity in Childhood Cancer

The goal of this observational study is to leverage childhood cancer survivor input to adapt video content of a digital video disc-(DVD) delivered evidence-based PA intervention, originally designed for community-dwelling older adults. Primary Objective: \- To leverage childhood cancer survivor input to adapt video content for an evidence-based remote exercise intervention.

Patient- Generated Health Data to Predict Childhood Cancer Survivorship Outcomes

Some childhood cancer survivors have health problems as the result of previous cancer treatment. This study is being done to determine if we can better predict the risk a childhood cancer survivor might have for developing future health issues. The goal of this study is to enable regular monitoring of patient-generated health data (PGHD), including symptoms, physical activity, energy expenditure, sleep behavior and heart rate variability, and utilize these data in predicting survivor-specific risk of late effects to improve survivorship care and outcomes.

Patient-Reported Outcome Version of the Common Criteria for Adverse Events

Childhood cancer survivors are vulnerable to treatment-related late effects, including physical and psychosocial morbidities, subsequent malignancies, and premature death. Symptom assessment provides a unique insight into survivorship care since symptoms not only indicate the manifestation for the occurrence of chronic health conditions, but also impact quality of life and survival. The National Cancer Institute (NCI) has developed a Patient-Reported Outcomes version of the Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events (PRO-CTCAE) to assess symptomatic adverse events (AEs) for adult-onset cancer patients who are receiving cancer therapies. However, content-appropriate and clinically validated symptom assessment tools for adult survivors of childhood cancer are not available. Primary Object 1: Establish content validity for the PRO-CTCAE-SCC Primary Objective 1A: Conduct a symptom selection process through qualitative research to identify symptomatic AEs for adult survivors of childhood cancer Primary Objective 1B: Create symptomatic AE items for adult survivors of childhood cancer based on the prevalence and clinical importance ratings on the items Primary Objective 2: Validate the PRO-CTCAE-SCC using psychometric methods and objective clinical parameters Primary Objective 2A: Test dimensionality for the PRO-CTCAE-SCC Primary Objective 2B: Test clinical validity for the PRO-CTCAE-SCC Primary Objective 2C: Test responsiveness to change for the PRO-CTCAE-SCC Secondary Objective 1: Increase clinical usefulness of the PRO-CTCAE-SCC Secondary Objective 2: Establish meaningful cut-points and minimally important differences (MIDs) on symptom burden scores for clinical decision-making

Use of Transcranial Photobiomodulation to Improve Cognition and Self-Reported Outcomes in Survivors of Childhood Cancer

Survivors of childhood cancer are at greater risk for long-term cognitive impairments that include attention, executive function, intelligence, memory, and processing speed. The participants are a survivor of acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) or Hodgkin's lymphoma (HL). Because of your treatment the participant may have developed trouble with thinking and learning. Primary Objective To evaluate the feasibility of using home-based tPBM paired with remote cognitive training to improve cognitive performance in survivors of ALL and HL. Secondary Objectives To estimate the potential efficacy of alpha and gamma frequency tPBM on cognitive performance in survivors of ALL and HL. Exploratory Objectives To estimate the effects of home-based tPBM paired with remote cognitive training on patient reported symptoms of executive dysfunction, sleep, depression, anxiety, fatigue, and pain in survivors of ALL and HL.

LiveWell: An Adapted Dialectical Behavioral Therapy Skills Training Protocol for Patients Living With Metastatic Lung Cancer

In this pilot randomized controlled trial, patients with metastatic non-small cell lung cancer and at least mild distress (N=80) will be randomized to receive LiveWell, an adapted Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT) Skills Training protocol) or Usual Care. The investigators will evaluate feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary efficacy of LiveWell to reduce distress (primary outcome) and improve psychological well-being, symptom burden, and quality of life (secondary outcomes). The investigators will explore emotion regulation as a potential mechanism of change.

Digital Self-Management and Peer Mentoring Intervention

This study tests how helpful a digital self-management and peer mentoring program is to young adult survivors of childhood cancer to improve their ability to manage their survivorship care as they transition from pediatric to adult-oriented follow-up care. Survivors require lifelong "risk-based" follow-up care based on the treatment they received to identify and treat late health effects. The transition from pediatric to adult follow-up care is a critical period when many survivors are lost to follow-up. Barriers to successful transition and engagement in care include poor knowledge of cancer history, low healthcare self-efficacy, poor self-management skills, low health literacy, and access issues such as financial hardship, insurance, and distance from cancer center. The "Managing Your Health" digital self-management and peer mentoring program aims to address these gaps and improve survivorship care self-management. Improvements in healthcare self-management are necessary to keep young adult survivors engaged in recommended health care, improve their quality of life, and promote optimal health.