Brighton Sussex, United Kingdom
Tracking Mutations in Cell Free Tumour DNA to Predict Relapse in Early Colorectal Cancer
TRACC Part B: Despite potentially curative surgery +/- adjuvant chemotherapy, a proportional of patients with early stage CRC will experience disease relapse. Current tools for surveillance, e.g., blood sampling for tumour markers (CEA) are neither sensitive nor specific. We hypothesise that detection of mutations in circulating free DNA (cfDNA) in plasma can predict relapse in patients with early stage CRC. Circulating cell free tumour DNA (ctDNA) maintains the same mutations that are present in tumour. In colorectal cancer CRC, primary tumours and& metastases exhibit high genomic concordance. Therefore the TRACC study TRACC Part B is investigating whether serial blood samples taken from in patients with stage II and III fully resected early stage CRC colorectal cancer that have undergone potentially curative surgery, blood samples to can be used to detect and& quantify ctDNA may in order to identify minimal residual disease MRD and predict relapse earlier than existing methods. CtDNA may ultimately help identify a subset of patients that are or are unlikely to benefit from adjuvant chemotherapy and could therefore safely spare some patients from receiving unnecessary chemotherapy & its associated side-effects. TRACC Part C: We hypothesis that ctDNA guided adjuvant chemotherapy administration will enable biomarker driven selection of patients who would and would not benefit from adjuvant chemotherapy and thereby reduce the proportion of patient receiving unnecessary adjuvant chemotherapy, reducing the potential side effects associated with it, but without compromising disease free survival (DFS). : This part of the study will use tThe blood test ctDNA result from a post-operative blood sample willto guide adjuvant chemotherapy treatment decisions. The study aims to demonstrate that athe de -escalation strategy of ctDNA guided adjuvant chemotherapy is non-inferior to standard of care treatment as measured by 3 year DFS in patients with high risk stage II and stage III CRC, in those who have no evidence of MRD (ctDNA negative). after surgery for patients with colorectal cancer who are following the standard of care pathway. Patients are randomised at the post- operative time point to: Arm A (standard of care adjuvant chemotherapy), or Arm B (ctDNA guided adjuvant chemotherapy) arm. For the ct DNA guided arm, patients who are ctDNA negative at this time point will have their chemotherapy de-escalated.
Phase
N/ASpan
765 weeksSponsor
Royal Marsden NHS Foundation TrustHarlow
Recruiting
Management of Acute Appendicitis at District General Hospital
As acute appendicitis is the most commonly managed emergency presentation for surgeons, the investigators aim to assess whether the changes in managing patients during COVID has reduced the negative appendicectomy rate, to compare the difference in outcomes of conservatively and surgically managed Acute Appendicitis? to assess whether there uniformity in prescribing postoperative antibiotics with resultant outcomes? to assess whether the incidence of complicated appendicitis has increased? This will be a single centre retrospective observational study. All the patients presenting in A&E department with a diagnosis of acute appendicitis to be included. the only exclusion criteria are the age of participants for less than 5 years. The data will be analysed and calculated using SPSS version 23.
Phase
N/ASpan
53 weeksSponsor
Princess Alexandra Hospital NHS TrustHarlow, Essex
Recruiting
Healthy Volunteers
Randomised Evaluation of Sodium Dialysate Levels on Vascular Events
RESOLVE is a pragmatic, cluster-randomised, open-label study designed to evaluate in real-world conditions the comparative effectiveness of two default dialysate sodium concentrations. Dialysis sites will be randomised in a 1:1 ratio to a default dialysate sodium concentration of 137mmol/l or 140mmol/l. 'Default' is defined as the use of the allocated dialysate sodium for ≥ 90% of delivered dialysis sessions in the unit. All other care will be according to standard local practices as determined by the site. Outcomes will be assessed on individual patients dialysing at those sites. Sites will be asked to consent to participation while waiver or opt-out consent will be sought for individual patients. It is anticipated that site accrual will occur over 5-7 years with average study duration expected to be approximately 2-5 years. The actual length of the study will be end-point determined.
Phase
4Span
553 weeksSponsor
University of SydneyHarlow
Recruiting
Value of Inhaled Treatment With Aztreonam Lysine in Bronchiectasis
Chronic neutrophilic inflammation is a feature of bronchiectasis and the levels of neutrophilic inflammation predict the risk of future exacerbations. Neutrophilic inflammation is highest in participants with P. aeruginosa and other Gram negative pathogens and inflammation can be suppressed by inhaled antibiotic treatment . There is therefore a strong rationale for the effectiveness of inhaled antibiotic treatment in bronchiectasis. Studies of inhaled antibiotics in bronchiectasis have given mixed results to date. Several open label studies in the late 1980's, testing nebulised β-lactams, demonstrated reduced sputum purulence, sputum volume and improvements in inflammatory markers. In an early phase II double-blind placebo-controlled trial by Barker et al. nebulised tobramycin significantly reduced the primary outcome of P. aeruginosa bacterial load but was poorly tolerated by some participants. Subsequently a single centre randomised controlled trial of nebulised gentamicin for 12 months reported significant benefits but was limited by open label design and small sample size. Haworth et al recruited 144 participants with chronic P. aeruginosa infection and randomized participants to nebulised colistin or placebo. The trial narrowly failed to meet its primary end-point (colistin group 165 days versus placebo 111 days; p=0.11). In the secondary end-points, a large improvement in quality of life using the SGRQ was noted (mean difference -10.5 points; p=0.006). Aztreonam is an inhaled antibiotic licensed for treatment in cystic fibrosis. Two recent phase III trials in bronchiectasis randomised 266 (AIR-BX1) and 274 (AIR-BX2) participants to Aztreonam 75mg three times daily or placebo over the course of two 28-day treatment cycles (with 28 days off treatment between cycles). The primary outcome was the newly developed Quality of Life Bronchiectasis (QoL-B) questionnaire. Unfortunately the trial failed to meet its primary end-point, with a significant change observed in the QOL-B respiratory symptom score in AIR-BX2 but not in AIR-BX1. Treatment related adverse effects were also increased in the Aztreonam treated participants. Likely explanations for the difficulties encountered in this previous trial include that the trial population was quite heterogeneous, with many participants having no history of exacerbations and appearing to have relatively mild disease. Many patients did not have a history exacerbations in this trial whereas the ERS bronchiectasis guidelines suggest limiting inhaled antibiotic use to patients with a history of 3 or more exacerbations per year. The characteristics of the included participants included high rates of pulmonary non-tuberculous mycobacterial disease and COPD. Nadig and Flume compared the characteristics of included participants in this trial to their own population of participants with severe bronchiectasis treated with inhaled antibiotics and identified little correlation, suggesting that the trials included a skewed population that was not representative of real-life clinical practice (Nadig and Flume AJRCCM 2016). In addition, no dose finding studies were performed in bronchiectasis. The dose of 75mg three times daily was chosen based on efficacy and safety in cystic fibrosis. The rates of adverse events appear to be higher in bronchiectasis suggesting that doses selected for CF may not be fully appropriate for participants with non-CF bronchiectasis. Whether lower doses may have efficacy and better safety has not been investigated. There is a need to determine the safety and efficacy of Aztreonam lysine in participants with bronchiectasis and a history of frequent exacerbations. The researchers hypothesise that Aztreonam lysine will be safe and well tolerated and will reduce the frequency of exacerbations in participants with bronchiectasis and a history of frequent exacerbations. This trial will test two different doses of Aztreonam lysine compared to placebo. The efficacy and safety of Aztreonam is supported by the evidence for Aztreonam in cystic fibrosis where Aztreonam prolonged the time to first exacerbation by 21 days compared to placebo and improved quality of life. The AIR-BX studies evaluated Aztreonam for inhalation for only 2 treatment cycles. They showed suppression of chronic Gram-negative airway bacterial load but were not designed to evaluate the impact of Aztreonam on the frequency or time to first exacerbation. No attempt to identify the optimal dose was made. The incidence of treatment related adverse effects was increased in AIR-BX1 but was more balanced in AIR-BX2, a trial conducted primarily in European bronchiectasis participants. The reason for this imbalance is unknown. The researchers hypothesise that 12 months treatment with Aztreonam lysine for inhalation will be safe and well tolerated, and will result in a significant increase in the time to first pulmonary exacerbation in participants with bronchiectasis and a history of frequent exacerbations.
Phase
2Span
311 weeksSponsor
University of DundeeHarlow
Recruiting
A Comparison of Intra-operative Radiotherapy Boost With External Beam Radiotherapy Boost in Early Breast Cancer.
DESIGN: A pragmatic multi-centre randomised clinical trial to test whether TARGeted Intraoperative radioTherapy as a tumour bed Boost (TARGIT-B) is superior in terms of local relapse within the treated breast compared with standard post-operative external beam radiotherapy boost in women undergoing breast conserving therapy who have a higher risk of local recurrence. Patients can be entered before the primary surgery or in a smaller proportion of cases, post-pathology. SETTING: Specialist breast units in UK, USA, Canada, Australia and Europe; 31 centres currently recruiting in the TARGIT-A trial and several are ready to join. TARGET POPULATION: Breast cancer patients suitable for breast conserving surgery, but with a high risk of local recurrence. Details of inclusion and exclusion are given in part 2. Briefly the patients should be either younger than 45 or if older, need to have certain pathological features that confer a high risk of local recurrence of breast cancer. HEALTH TECHNOLOGIES BEING ASSESSED. The TARGIT Technique: The Intrabeam® (Carl Zeiss, FDA approved and CE marked) is a miniature electron beam-driven source which provides a point source of low energy X-rays (50kV maximum) at the tip of a 3.2mm diameter tube. The radiation source is inserted into the tumour bed immediately after excision of the tumour and switched on for 20-35 minutes to provide intra-operative radiotherapy accurately targeted to the tissues that are at highest risk of local recurrence. The physics, dosimetry and early clinical applications of this soft x-ray device have been well studied. For use in the breast, the technique was first developed and piloted at University College London. The radiation source is surrounded by a spherical applicator, specially designed (and available in various sizes) to produce a uniform field of radiation at its surface, enabling delivery of an accurately calculated dose to a prescribed depth. It is inserted in the tumour bed and apposed to it with surgical sutures and/or other means. As the x-rays rapidly attenuate the dose to more distant tissues is reduced; this also allows it to be used in standard operating theatres. 20 Gy is delivered to the tumour bed surface in 20-35 minutes, after which the radiation is switched off, the applicator removed, and the wound closed in the normal way. This simple technique has potentially several advantages over convential external beam radiotherapy, interstitial implantation of radioactive wires or conformal external beam radiotherapy. The first pilot of twenty-five cases was at performed at UCL using TARGIT technique as a replacement for the boost dose of radiotherapy; full dose external beam treatment was subsequently given. The phase II study of 300 patients was published and recently updated with long term data along with favourable toxicity and cosmetic outcome results of individual cohorts. A mathematical model of TARGIT developed recently (funded by Cancer Research UK) suggests that it could be superior to conventional radiotherapy. Translational research has found that TARGIT impairs the surgical-trauma-stimulated proliferation and invasiveness of breast cancer cells. This effect of radiotherapy may act synergistically with its tumouricidal effect yielding a superior result. MEASUREMENT OF COST AND OUTCOME: Patient assessments will be clinical examination (6 monthly x 3 years then yearly x 10 years) and mammography (yearly). with ulstrasound (if needed) . Primary outcome: histologically/cytologically proven local recurrence. Secondary: site of relapse in the breast, overall survival, local toxicity (RTOG and LENT SOMA criteria), cosmesis, quality of life, patient satisfaction and health economics. The cost and cost-effectiveness of TARGIT versus EBRT, both as boost, will be calculated from a NHS and personal social services (PSS) perspective. Costs directly incurred by patients will also be assesed, since EBRT as a boost is likely to impose additional time and travel expense to patients and families.
Phase
N/ASpan
465 weeksSponsor
University College, LondonHarlow
Recruiting
A Study Evaluating the Efficacy and Safety of Multiple Therapies in Cohorts of Participants With Locally Advanced, Unresectable, Stage III Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC)
Phase
3Span
566 weeksSponsor
Hoffmann-La RocheHarlow
Recruiting
A Study of Zasocitinib in Adults With Psoriatic Arthritis Who Have or Have Not Been Treated With Biologic Medicines
Phase
3Span
151 weeksSponsor
TakedaHarlow
Recruiting
Harlow
Recruiting