Clinical Trials

The purpose of this study is to compare the incidence of cuff dehiscence in patients who have undergone total robotic laparoscopic hysterectomy vs. total vaginal hysterectomy, to identify risk factors for cuff dehiscence, and to study the impact of cuff dehiscence on a patient’s psychological well-being.

This study is being done to collect clinical data and store samples of your blood and tissue for current and future research studies on sarcoma.

The aim of this study is to create a patient and patient-advocate catalyzed tumor bank for the retrieval, processing, analysis, and maintenance of pre-treatment, post-treatment and (when available) post-mortem soft tissue sarcoma (STS) tissue and tissue data with an emphasis on STSs occurring in younger patients (YP-STS). This resource-platform will be named Project BTTRFLY (Benevolent Tumor Tissue Repository Fighting for the Legacy of our Young).  

The purpose of this study is to evaluate a low-cost Contrast Enhanced Digital Mammogram (CEDM) protocol as a supplemental screening method to standard mammographic screening in women at intermediate lifetime-risk (and not undergoing annual MR surveillance) for breast cancer.

Although survivorship recommendations have been developed in areas such as lymphoma and stem cell transplant, the long-term effects of CAR-T therapy are unknown. In addition, relatively little is known about the psychosocial impact of CAR-T on survivors and their caregivers. Due to the intensive nature of CAR-T treatment and its unique side effects, including neurotoxicity in the acute setting and infections and financial burden in the long-term setting, a longitudinal study that assesses these issues in a quantitative and qualitative fashion is required. Consideration of both patient and caregiver needs is important for the provision of appropriate and effective health services, particularly in intensive cancer treatments that require a caregiver, such as CAR-T.

Our objective in this proposal is to define the long-term needs of CAR-T survivors using patient-reported health-related quality of life (QOL) measures, qualitative interviews, and adverse event data. The rationale for our proposed study is that it will provide the necessary knowledge on CAR-T survivor physical, mental, and social health to formulate a CAR-T specific survivorship program that can be implemented and studied in the future.

We aim to recruit 100 subjects (50 survivors and 50 caregivers) to the study. Inclusion Criteria are the following:  age ≥ 18, blood cancer diagnosis (including B-ALL, multiple myeloma, and lymphoma), receiving a CAR-T product, able to complete a written questionnaire in English either independently or with assistance, and able to perform a verbal interview either in person or via phone teleconference. We will survey patients at baseline and then at pre-specified timepoints up to 2 years after CAR-T. Survey questionnaires that have been previously validated in cancer populations will be used to assess: overall quality of life, psychosocial impact, cognitive function, post-traumatic stress, spiritual well-being, and financial toxicity. Patient demographics, adverse events, and comorbidities will also be collected via survey and/or medical record review. A selected subset of participants (10 survivors and 10 caregivers) will be chosen to undergo semi-structured open ended interviewing to obtain a qualitative understanding of unmet needs, social support, and distress. Data will be analyzed and compared to historical lymphoma and transplant cohorts.

This is a peripheral blood Collection Protocol to study the T-cell immune responses of patients with malignancies displaying one of three different patterns of antigen expression: (1) Cohort 1 focuses on cancers displaying a high (80-90%) frequency of MUC1 expression and variably high (unreported to 50%) HER2/neu (“HER2”) expression; (2) Cohort 2 focuses on primary or secondary myelofibrosis (MF) displaying mutated calreticulin (muCALR); (3) Cohort 3 focuses on glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) which often displays the cytomegalovirus tegument protein CMVpp65. Cohort 1 includes blood collections for in vitro studies which are a component of NIH-funded Project 3 within the Mayo Clinic Pancreatic SPORE, “Optimal Immunotargeting of MUC1 for Advanced Pancreatic Cancer” (Principal Investigator Dr. Gendler). Eligibility Criteria, keep current Eligibility Criteria, but precede by:: "Three cohorts of patients will be collected.:Cohort 1 includes (1) advanced unresectable pancreatic cancer, (2-4) advanced, unresectable breast cancer (up to 6 donors per phenotype: triple negative [HER2, estrogen and progesterone receptor (ER and PR) all negative], HER2 positive whatever the ER/PR status,, and HER2 negative/ER positive), (5) advanced, unresectable colorectal cancer, (6) advanced, unresectable ovarian cancer, (7) advanced, unresectable clear cell kidney cancer, (8) advanced, unresectable bladder cancer, (9) advanced, unresectable lung adenocarcinoma, (10) advanced, unresectable multiple myeloma. Also eligible are (11) up to 6 donors with triple negative breast cancer and (12) up to 6 donors with colorectal cancer who have no clinical evidence of residual (macroscopic) disease following an attempt to perform definitive treatment (including surgery, radiation and/or adjuvant or neoadjuvant chemotherapy). Cohort 2 includes (1) muCALR+ primary MF, and (2) muCALR+ secondary MF. Cohort 3 includes (1) CMVpp65 absent and (2) CMVpp65 present GBM.. Patients in all subcohorts except 1.11 and 1.12 currently have unresectable advanced or recurrent cancers, and may undergo the collection: (1) prior to initiation of systemic therapy; (2) if patient is already engaged in an ongoing cyclical systemic therapy, collection should be within three days prior to the end of the current therapy cycle, if necessary delayed until all clinical parameters are acceptable to proceed with the next planned cycle of therapy; (3) if patient is completing non-cyclical therapy, collection should be at least 2.5-3.0 weeks after completion of the therapy, or delayed until all clinical parameters are acceptable to proceed with any planned follow-up therapy. Patients in cohorts 1.11 and 1.12 (currently lacking detectable cancer) will undergo the collection at least 4 weeks after conclusion of therapy. In addition to belonging to one of these 16 subcohorts, patients will be required to have bloodwork demonstrating a blood hemoglobin ≥ 10 g/dL, a neutrophil count ≥ 1,500 /microliter, and platelets ≥ 100,000 /microliter, performed within 7 days prior to the collection.

The purpose of this study is to determine if LIF (Leukemia Inhibitory Factor) level is positively correlated with disease progression and CA19-9 level in Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma (PDAC) patients and is a reliable biomarker of response.

The purpose of this study is to find out more about certain markers of immune suppression in people with kidney tumors (whether the tumors are benign or cancer). Also want to find out if kidney tumor treatment leads to an improvement in these immune markers.

The purposes of this study are (i) to obtain and study biospecimens from patients with breast cancer that has either spread out of the breast or recurred after initial treatment(s), such as surgery, chemotherapy, and/or radiation, and (ii) to collect information about patients, treatments, and the behavior of the underlying cancer. Research involving biospecimens that are linked to related medical information is one way to learn more about diseases. In this case, we seek to understand the mechanism of tumor spread and determine why people respond differently to specific cancer treatments. In general terms, scientists will study the cells, DNA, RNA, and proteins found in the tumor tissue and/or the blood to understand more about cancer and the body’s response to cancer and related treatments.

The aim of this study is to use the combine clinical risk assessment models that are already used in routine clinical practice with information derived from polygenic risk score (PRS) testing in women of racial minorities to see if this can improve adherence to recommended breast cancer screening and prevention strategies.