ANZCTR search results

Recent studies by the US Gynecologic Oncology Group have found that patients, who are given chemotherapy directly into the abdominal cavity as well as through a vein, live longer than those who are given chemotherapy through a vein only. TRIPOD is a study which will determine if it is possible and safe to treat ovarian cancer patients, in Australia and New Zealand with chemotherapy given directly into the abdomen as well as through a vein. This study will enroll at least 35 patients which will take approximately 1 year. The aim of the study is to determine if it is possible to treat women with ovarian cancer with chemotherapy, some of which is given directly into the abdomen as well as into the vein. It will also determine how safe it is, what side-effects it causes and how it affects quality of life.

Previous studies have highlighted the need for better training of health professionals in outcome measurement, so that limited time and resources are spent on interventions that improve the health of the population. Currently less than 30% of allied health professionals routinely use outcome measures in practice. Fewer still use reliable, published measures. The primary aim of this study is to: Determine the effectiveness of a one-day interactive educational workshop, with printed educational materials and 3 months email and telephone follow-up support on the use of outcome measures by allied health professionals. All allied health professionals (N=121) employed by The Spastic Centre of New South Wales were invited to participate in the study. The study assessed changes in outcome measurement behaviour, knowledge and skills at baseline, 3 months and 6 months.

A phase III study to compare the effect of 'Zoladex' with 'Zoladex plus Nolvadex' in pre- and peri-menopausal patients with advanced breast cancer.

The primary aim of this study is to quantitatively measure, in healthy controls, the effects of a pharmacologic agent in attenuating experimentally induced responses simulating the clinical characteristics of lateral epicondylalgia (“tennis elbow”). The primary hypothesis to be tested in this study is: in comparison with a placebo intervention, a pharmacological intervention targeting processes of central sensitisation via blockade of the N-methyl-D-asparate (NMDA) receptor will attenuate the somatosensory and motor effects of experimentally induced pain in healthy control subjects with simulated characteristics of clinical lateral epicondylalgia Lay version: In the experiment we will investigate what happens to forearm muscle function and pressure pain sensitivity when given a lozenge containing either an active medication or placebo prior to experimentally induced pain in those muscles. These muscles are involved in “tennis elbow” problems in occupational and sporting settings. What does it involve? This experiment will be conducted over two days taking about 1.5 hour per session. At the first session you will be given a lozenge (either placebo or an active drug) 1 hour prior to undertaking an intense bout of eccentric exercise in your non-dominant arm. One day later, a muscle in your exercised arm will be injected with hypertonic saline. This injection may generate a short period of muscle pain. Before and after each session a number of measures will be taken: 1. Pressure pain sensitivity at sites around forearm muscles and tendons using a device to measure mechanical pressure sensitivity (pressure algometer); 2. muscle strength of specific elbow muscles. These measures will also be repeated at Day 1 during the hypertonic saline-induced pain.

Predicting how well a child will respond to treatment for gastroenteritis is difficult and means that children often spend many hours in the emergency department. Blood tests can sometimes help predict how unwell a child is, but take some time to be done. We propose to do a fingerprick blood test called a capillary gas which can be tested quickly and done with minor discomfort only and analyze the results to see if we can predict which children need admission. We anticipate that the more unwell children will need admission, and that there will be changes on their blood tests that we can use to predict this. If we can prove that this works, it will reduce the amount of time that they will have to stay in the emergency department.

Cycle training intensity for patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is normally based on an incremental cycle test (ICT). Such tests are expensive and not readily available to clinicians. The aim of this study is to determine whether cycle training intensity, prescribed from a six minute walk test (6MWT) resulted in a level of exercise (measured by oxygen consumption) known to produce physiological training effects in individuals with COPD.

Rituximab's efficacy in causing profound B cell depletion when treating non hodgkin lymphoma has led to interest in its application in B cell mediated auto immune disease. Rituximab at conventional dose is expensive and not without side effects, in particular infection. There is evidence to suggest abbreviated courses may be sufficient in this scenario to achieve disease control whilst minimising potential risks of therapy.

The aim of the research was to determine if acupuncture adminisitered to women with a post term pregnancy would reduce the need for induction.

This study aims to determine the most effective nutrition management for patients with chronic kidney disease in terms of assessment and intervention methods. It is expected that provision of individual nutrition counselling with structured telephone-based follow-up will improve the nutritional status, quality of life and dietary intake of chronic kidney disease patients preparing for dialysis compared with standard care treatment.

To examine whether botulinum toxin – A (BTX-A) injections into the intrinsic muscles of the thumb, when combined with a regimen of occupational therapy and home therapy improves the attainment of individual goals when compared to a home and occupational therapy program alone.