Clinical Trials

The purpose of this study is to better understand the anatomy of the lymphatic structure and the molecular process that leads to the over production of lymph fluid.  This proposal will begin intense lymphedema screening and identify baseline characteristics potentially predisposing someone to lymphedema, and identify molecular markers that might be altered to prevent lymphedema. 

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 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).  

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.

The purpose of this study is to prospectively collect standardized clinical data and radiological and pathological material from primary retroperitoneal sarcomas RPS patients treated with surgery at reference centers. Patient outcome will be evaluated in terms of overall survival (OS), disease-free survival (DFS), crude cumulative incidence (CCI) of local recurrence (LR) and distant metastasis (DM).

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.

The purposes of this study are to richly describe the content and dynamics of clinical trial discussions in oncology and compare the knowledge, beliefs, and attitudes of oncology patients, caregivers, and clinicians related to clinical trials, and to develop a multifaceted, patient-centered intervention for increasing patient understanding of and participation in clinical trials in oncology.

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 test the feasibility of NanoString digital spatial profiling (DSP) and RNAscope™ on prospectively acquired HDLN tissue samples with EUS-FNB in patients with unresectable perihilar CCA undergoing liver transplant (LT) evaluation.

The overall goal of this pilot study is to assess initial quality and feasibility of a novel protoype TBP system that may be used in the future for accurate and accessible skin cancer screening called Skinmap. Skinmap’s automatic anatomical registration will be sufficient to permit accurate alignment of baseline overlays on current imagery for visual and automated detection of changes 1mm or greater on 95% of exposed skin in baseline and current image sets. The teams of Triangulate Labs and Mayo Clinic Enterprise Dermatology propose to validate, refine, and explore the clinical utility of Skinmap.