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The study is comparing two different techniques to assess kidney function in patients referred to the Peter MacCallum Cancer Institute. Who is it for? You may be eligible to join this study if you are aged 18 years or above and have been referred to the Peter MacCallum Cancer Institute for assessment of kidney function. Trial Details. The determination of kidney function is utilised for a wide range of clinical decision making. At Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, common clinical indications include dose adjustment for renally excreted chemotherapy agents (eg. carboplatin), determination of overall and split renal function prior to abdominal radiotherapy and monitoring of renal function during radionuclide therapy. Radionuclide techniques such as 51Cr-ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) blood clearance counting is a well-established method for estimation of GFR but requires blood samples from the patient at multiple time points and requires a well counter to accurately measure radioactivity at each time point which is not available in many nuclear medicine facilities. Positron emission tomography (PET) offers several advantages for imaging the kidneys over the conventional nuclear medicine technique. It has an order of magnitude higher sensitivity for radiotracer detection, enables dynamic tomographic (three dimensional) imaging, incorporates scatter and attenuation correction enabling accurate quantification of regional uptake and has superior spatial and temporal resolution. EDTA can be labelled with 68Ga, a positron emitting isotope which can be imaged on a PET/CT scanner. 68Ga EDTA PET/CT offers a non-invasive imaging-based alternative to 51Cr EDTA for GFR estimation. 68Ga EDTA PET/CT also has the ability to assess both overall and differential or regional renal function in a single study. Currently, many patients undergo both a 51Cr EDTA and a 99mTc-DMSA or 99mTc-DTPA to calculate overall and regional function, respectively. Although 68Ga EDTA standalone PET has been performed, there is limited experience and no data on its use in the PET/CT era or utility in comparison to 51Cr EDTA for GFR estimation. There are also no published reports, to our knowledge, using 68Ga EDTA to assess regional renal function. All participants in this study will undergo two different techniques to evaluate kidney function. This involves having an injection into a vein of a small of dose of two radioactive substances (68Ga and 51Cr-EDTA). A 20 minute PET scan is then performed looking at your kidneys. A small amount of blood is taken at 2, 3 and 4 hours.

Children who live with a chronic illness and their families face a multitude of challenges and are often more vulnerable to mental illness due to persistent levels of stress experienced in relation to the illness and other issues. The Child Illness and Resilience Project (CHiRP) aims to develop and evaluate the acceptability and effectiveness of a family resilience based mental health promotion intervention designed to enhance the well-being of this vulnerable population. The testable hypotheses are; 1. that the provision of a Family Resilience and Well-being booklet containing information, strategies and self-directed activities designed to promote family resilience to parents/carers of children with a chronic illness will improve psychological well-being and family resilience (as measured by scores on standardised measures of relevant constructs such as psychological distress, family functioning, social connectedness, family beliefs and help-seeking behaviours); 2. that for parents/carers of children with a chronic illness who experience above normal levels of psychological distress, participation in an Family Resilience Information Support Group will further improve psychological well-being and family resilience (as measured by scores on standardised measures of relevant constructs such as psychological distress, family functioning, social connectedness, family beliefs and help-seeking behaviours), relative to receiving the booklet only. 3. that the CHiRP Family Resilience resources build the capacity of the health sector to standardise provision of information, support and resources to families who have a child with chronic illness (as measured by evaluation data from participants and health sector staff).

It has been recently revealed that distinct mechanisms trigger the release of the incretin hormone glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) in the proximal and distal intestine in rodents. Stimuli for incretin release vary considerably between species, and whether such distinct proximal and distal mechanisms exist in humans has not been assessed. Specific aims of the proposal are to: 1 - Determine the release of GLP-1 during acute colonic perfusion with glucose or the potassium ATP ion channel (KATP) inhibitor, glibenclamide, in healthy subjects and patients with type 2 diabetes; 2 - Determine the expression of glucose sensing molecules in functionally identified colonic cells, activated by glucose or glibenclamide, in healthy subjects and patients with type 2 diabetes. We hypothesise that L-cells in the human colon can release endogenous GLP-1 following local inhibition of KATP channels. This signalling pathway may provide an avenue to augment endogenous GLP-1 release in patients with type 2 diabetes, which could potentially be used to optimise blood glucose control.

Lifestyle risk factors such as lack of regular exercise, poor diet, ageing, excess body weight, high blood fats and high blood sugar levels can lead to narrowing and hardening of arteries, thus increasing our blood pressure. Long term elevated blood pressure can eventually increase our risk for developing cardiovascular diseases. Certain ingredients from food sources such as extracts from olive leaf, green coffee bean and beet may help lower blood pressure by enhancing the ability of blood vessels to dilate. These ingredients have independently been shown to have blood pressure lowering effects; however, their combined effects on blood pressure are unknown. In this study, we are looking to see if a novel formulation consisting of extracts from olive leaf, green coffee bean and beet can lower blood pressure in adults. We will also look at its effects on blood fats, blood sugar and insulin levels.

This study aims to investigate whether the neuropathic pain medication pregabalin (Lyrica) is more effective than standard paracetamol in relieving pain and widespread neuropathic-type symptoms in individuals with mild to moderately painful knee osteoarthritis, who have been assessed for the additional presence of neuropathic pain.

This study is assessing the efficacy, safety and tolerability of using T cell therapy targeting human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) in treating brain cancer (glioblastoma multiforme ). Who is it for? You may be eligible to join this study if you are aged 18 years or above, have been diagnosed with glioblastoma multiforme , and have not yet begun standard treatment for this disease . Trial details: Patients will be eligible if they have been recently diagnosed with glioblastoma multiforme and are about to begin standard radiotherapy and chemotherapy regimens. A blood sample will be taken from patients prior to beginning standard radiotherapy and chemotherapy, in order to grow the cells for the experimental therapy. These cells, known as T cells (a type of white blood cell) will be grown in the laboratory from each patient’s blood sample. After completing standard radiotherapy and chemotherapy regimens, all participants in this study will receive treatment with killer T cells (a type of white blood cell) which have been grown in the laboratory from the participant’s own white blood cells. Treatment consists of up to 6 infusions of T cells (given fortnightly or monthly, depending on the standard treatment regimen), and patients are monitored for 12 months afterwards to see if treatment is safe and to measure any reduction in tumour and amount of virus in the blood. Recent studies suggest that most gliomas carry a common virus, called human cytomegalovirus (HCMV), which is normally controlled by killer T cells. The study aims to see if killer T cells grown in the laboratory and trained to recognise components of the virus can also kill HCMV infected gliomas. The standard first-line treatment is usually surgery, radiotherapy and a chemotherapy drug called temozolomide. If the cancer then grows back, there are no known effective treatments.

In 2012, we conducted a review of free smoking cessation apps in the Apple store and Android market and found that all 130 apps lacked the informational content about smoking which is necessary to help quit. For instance, none of the identified apps provided information about evidence-based treatment (Not published). In phase 1 of this study, we found that of 394 participants, 43% have used smoking cessation apps before, and of them 55% have made a quit attempt using an app. Given that most of the available apps are not of a high quality, our aim is to develop an evidence-based decision aid smartphone app, to help smoker decide on the best available quitting method suitable for them, and follow up their quitting process. The intervention and control apps will be compared in terms of helping participants making quitting attempts and abstinence rate at 4 time-points (10 days, 1 month, 3 months, and 6 months).

Safety, Tolerability and Immunogenicity of a HSV DNA Vaccine

Oncology and Haematology patients are at increased risk to be admitted to the ICU during the course of their treatment, especially when they present with an advanced or aggressive disease. Unfortunately there is high mortality rate among this cohort of patients. There are many factors that may play a crucial role such as presence of organ failure, intubation status, oxygen saturation and compromise to the cardiovascular system. It is important to study all these factors as well as other factors such as underlying disease and disease status in order to predict patient outcome. There are paucity of data in this regard and therefore it highlights the importance of this audit in our hospital.

We already know that the amount of walking completed by people in rehabilitation is very low and people find it hard to regain their walking ability in the community after having a hip fracture. This study will find out how much walking can be feasibly and safely completed by people in rehabilitation after having a hip fracture. The results will help guide therapists as to how much walking they could prescribe to optimise patient outcomes.