Clinical Trials

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the efficacy and safety of two different dosing regimens of AP26113 in patients with anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK)-positive locally advanced or metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) whose disease has progressed on therapy with crizotinib.

The purpose of this study is to determine the efficacy and safety of aldoxorubicin in subjects with metastatic, locally advanced, or unresectable soft tissue sarcomas.

Carotid revascularization for primary prevention of stroke (CREST-2) is two independent multicenter, randomized controlled trials of carotid revascularization and intensive medical management versus medical management alone in patients with asymptomatic high-grade carotid stenosis. One trial will randomize patients in a 1:1 ratio to endarterectomy versus no endarterectomy and another will randomize patients in a 1:1 ratio to carotid stenting with embolic protection versus no stenting. Medical management will be uniform for all randomized treatment groups and will be centrally directed.

The purpose of this study is to determine whether or not giving a lower dose of antibiotics (Vancomycin) in the area where it is needed (the knee joint) is more effective at preventing infection than the current standard dose which is given intravenously (IV) through a wrist vein.

Depression is common in patients with cancer. Current medications for depression, while effective, take several weeks to take effect. Ketamine has emerged as a drug with promise for cancer patients. In two reported cases, a single dose of ketamine induced rapid and moderately sustained symptom reduction in depression and anxiety with no adverse side effects. Benefit was seen in as little as 1 hour and sustained up to 30 days. This study is a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled investigation testing whether a single dose of ketamine improves depression and anxiety relative to placebo in patients with cancer.

Although multiple studies have clearly demonstrated that ranibizumab therapy is more effective than laser alone for vision gain and avoiding vision loss in patients with central-involved Diabetic Macular Edema (DME), only eyes with poor visual acuity, such as a visual acuity letter score of 78 or worse (approximate Snellen equivalent of 20/32 or worse) were eligible. Eyes that have central-involved DME with "good" visual acuity (20/25 or better) have not been addressed systematically by recent studies for treatment of DME. Baseline cohort characteristics from the Early Treatment Diabetic Retinopathy Study (ETDRS) suggest that a substantial percentage of eyes with central-involved DME may retain good vision. The investigators do not know definitively whether eyes with central-involved DME and good vision do better with anti-VEGF (vascular endothelial growth factor) (e.g. aflibercept) therapy initially, or focal/grid laser treatment or observation initially followed by anti-VEGF only if vision worsens.

The primary objective of the protocol is to compare the % of eyes that have lost at least 5 letters of visual acuity at 2 years compared with baseline mean visual acuity in eyes with central-involved DME and good visual acuity defined as a Snellen equivalent of 20/25 or better (electronic-ETDRS letter score of 79 or better) that receive (1) prompt focal/grid photocoagulation + deferred anti-VEGF, (2) observation + deferred anti-VEGF, or (3) prompt anti-VEGF.

Secondary objectives include:

• Comparing other visual acuity outcomes between treatment groups, such as the percent of eyes with at least 5, 10 and 15 letter losses in visual acuity from baseline mean visual acuity, percent of eyes with at least 5 letter gain in visual acuity from baseline, mean visual acuity, mean change in visual acuity, adjusted for baseline mean visual acuity
• For eyes randomized to deferred anti-VEGF, the percentage of eyes needing anti-VEGF treatment
• Comparing optical coherence tomography (OCT) outcomes, such as the mean change in OCT central subfield (CSF) thickness, adjusted for baseline mean thickness
• Comparing the number of eyes with PDR at randomization, proportion of eyes avoiding vitreous hemorrhage or panretinal photocoagulation (PRP) or vitrectomy for PDR between treatment groups
• Comparing safety outcomes between treatment groups
• Comparing associated treatment and follow-up exam costs between treatment groups

RATIONALE: Diagnostic procedures, such as fludeoxyglucose F 18-PET/CT scan, may help doctors find head and neck cancer and find out how far the disease has spread. It may also help doctors plan the best treatment.

PURPOSE: This phase II trial is studying fludeoxyglucose F 18-PET/CT imaging to see how well it works in assessing the tumor and planning neck surgery in patients with newly diagnosed head and neck cancer.

Specific Aims

Pelvic organ prolapse is a common and distressing condition that is frequently associated with stress urinary incontinence (SUI) and often requires surgical repair. Abdominal sacral colpopexy is the preferred operation for repairing pelvic prolapse. As many as 91% of women with pelvic organ prolapse undergoing sacral colpopexy also experience SUI. In addition, up to 44% of previously continent women develop SUI incontinence after sacral colpopexy: perhaps because a sacral colpopexy may predispose to opening of the bladder neck if secured too tightly. The selection of a surgical procedure to prevent and manage SUI in women undergoing sacral colpopexy is empiric rather than evidence-based.

Conceptually, a mid-urethral sling may be more effective than a Burch procedure for preventing urinary leakage because a sling provides outlet resistance beyond the bladder neck and therefore it may compensate for a downward tension on the bladder neck resulting from the sacral colpopexy. Indeed, clinical observations suggest that a mid-urethral sling is effective among women who have persistent urinary incontinence after sacral colpopexy with a Burch procedure. Therefore, the investigators' global hypothesis is that a mid-urethral sling is preferable to a Burch procedure for preventing and improving stress urinary incontinence in women undergoing sacral colpopexy for pelvic organ prolapse.

The investigators' SPECIFIC AIMS are to evaluate objective and subjective outcomes at 6, 12 and 24 months in 124 women with urinary incontinence and advanced pelvic organ prolapse. All women will be undergoing a sacral colpopexy and will be randomized to either a Burch procedure or a mid-urethral sling. The primary endpoint is composite continence at 6 months while secondary endpoints will include composite continence and subjective measures of incontinence, patient satisfaction and morbidity associated with these procedures. The investigators' hypotheses are as follows:

1. At 6 months, urinary continence rates will be higher after a mid-urethral than after a Burch procedure. Urine continence will be assessed by composite measure of incontinence: no subjective complaint, no interim treatment, and negative standardized stress test performed by a masked observer. This assessment will be repeated at 12 and 24 months post-operatively to establish the medium term continence of the two procedures. Subjective continence and patient satisfaction measures will be obtained at each of the above visits using standardized questionnaires and pelvic organ support will be quantified by Pelvic Organ Prolapse-Quantification (POP-Q) scores.
2. Early events (e.g., blood loss, operative time, intra-operative complications (vascular, bowel and urological injuries), in-hospital complications (need for transfusion, febrile morbidity, thrombotic events, wound infection, length of stay, duration of bladder catheterization and ileus) and delayed postoperative complications (e.g., wound infection, mesh erosion, bowel obstruction and obstructed voiding) will be collected to compare the safety of each procedure.

This randomized phase III trial studies enzalutamide to see how well it works compared to enzalutamide, abiraterone, and prednisone in treating patients with castration-resistant metastatic prostate cancer. Androgens can cause the growth of prostate cancer cells. Drugs, such as enzalutamide, abiraterone acetate, and prednisone, may lessen the amount of androgens made by the body.

The purpose of this study is to determine whether ornithine phenylacetate can speed recovery from an acute hepatic encephalopathy episode requiring hospitalization in cirrhotic patients.