ANZCTR search results

Age related hearing loss (ARHL) is a very common disorder in older adults. Previous studies have demonstrated that up to 2/3 of those over the age of 70 years may be affected. There is no known cure for the disease nor preventive actions for the disease progression. While ARHL has recently been associated with cognitive decline, the synergistic effect of age related hearing loss and cognitive decline has never been observed with a treatment intervention. ASPREE-HEARING will investigate whether ARHL is affected by aspirin vs placebo. It will also examine in healthy older adults the association between age related heariang loss and cognitive decline in adults over a 3 year follow up period and whether daily low dose aspirin is protective against hearing threshold change and cognitive decline. The study will also appraise the potential vascular mechanism of hearing loss by using retinal vascular imaging.

This study is looking to assess if a commercially available seawead extract (fucoidan) has an effect on blood sugar and insulin levels, as well as other markers of cardio (heart) and metabolic health, when taken over three months. To allow us to assess its impact, one half (approx 40) of the enrolled participants will take a placebo capsule which does not contain fucoidan or any other active ingredient.

Psoriasis currently has no cure. Whilst new therapies manage severe psoriasis well mild-moderate conditions have evidence of poor management. Chinese medicine regularly treats psoriasis successfully in a clinical scenario. This study will test a previously researched herbal formula and evaluate its efficacy when integrated with standard conventional therapy (calcipotriol). The study will randomize participants to either a herbal medicine plus calcipotriol group or a placebo plus calcipotriol group and compare changes in symptom severity, quality of life and blood markers for changes after 12 weeks of the intervention. It will also assess the safety of integrating the two therapies and acceptability of the treatment as well as assess any significant difference between health resource utilization of the two groups.

This study is evaluating whether radiolabelled Cetuximab exhibits tumour uptake sufficiently to enable targeted radioimmunotherapy in patients with advanced head and neck cancer. Who is it for? You may be eligible to join this study if you are aged 18 years or above and have been diagnosed with advanced head and neck squamous cell carcinoma, without option for further surgery or radiotherapy. Study details: All participants in this study will undergo a precursor imaging study with gallium-68-cetuximab. If appropriate they will be offered salvage radioimmunotherapy with newly developed Rhenium-188-Cetuximab or Lutetium-177-Cetuximab using the tumour-targeting ability of Cetuximab to deliver internal radiation to the tumour. Follow up assessments will comprise standard-of-care imaging and blood testing. Given a favourable response, repeat radioimmunotherapy may be contemplated for subsequent relapse with either of the aforementioned beta emitting radionuclides.

Many people with MS develop ankle contractures (a stiffening of the ankle joint) that can impact on normal movement at a very early stage. There is moderate-to-high quality evidence that stretch, the first line of intervention for prevention and treatment of joint contracture in physiotherapy, does not have clinically useful immediate, short-term or long-term effects on joint range of motion. This study will investigate whether exercise that stretches the calf muscle while they contract (eccentric exercise) can be used to treat ankle contractures in people with MS. 40 people with MS who have developed ankle contractures will be randomly allocated either to receive or not receive a 12-week program of eccentric exercise of calf muscle. Ankle joint range of motion, calf muscle properties and parameters of gait and mobility will be measured before and after the 12-week period.

Severe chronic pain affects up to 8% of adolescents, with many suffering from significant emotional distress and physical disability. This often limits school attendance and impacts on the family as a whole. This pilot randomised controlled trial aims to evaluate an intervention designed to help these families. The project tests an innovative service delivery model with interdisciplinary pain management being provided in face-to face workshops followed with Telehealth sessions delivered to the family home. The treatment team is led by a Physiotherapist and also includes an Occupational Therapist and Clinical Psychologist.

Online social-networking has tremendous reach and high engagement - innovative research is needed to harness this for public health gain. We aim to develop and evaluate a 50-day team-based social-network-based physical activity intervention. Delivered via a Facebook application and iPhone counterpart, the “Active-Team” application, or “A-Team” for short, ultimately aims to improve the health and well-being of the South Australian community.

The aim of the study is to assess the safety and efficacy of chemotherapy treatment with a combination of erlotinib and vemurafenib in patients with BRAF V600E mutant colorectal and non-small lung cancer. Who is it for? You may be eligible to join this study if you aged 18 years or more and have a confirmed diagnosis of metastatic colorectal cancer or non-small cell lung cancer with a BRAF V600E mutation of your primary cancer or related metastases. Study details: There are two parts to this study. In the first part, participants with metastatic colorectal cancer will be treated with erlotinib and vemurafenib daily until disease progression or unacceptable toxicities. Both of these chemotherapy drugs are administered in tablet form and taken orally. The dose administered will be increased in subsequent patient groups in order to determine the maximum tolerated dose to be used in the second part of the study. Patients with metastatic colorectal cancer or non-small cell lung cancer are eligible for the second part of the study. They will also be treated with oral erlotinib and vemurafenib daily until disease progression or unacceptable toxicities. All participants will be regularly monitored and assessed for a period of up to 18 months in order to evaluate the safety and efficacy of treatment.

This study aims to investigate the feasibility and tolerability of stereotactic ablative body radiosurgery in patients with oligometastases from breast cancer. Who is it for? You may be eligible to join this study if you are aged 18 years or above and have a confirmed primary diagnosis of breast cancer, with evidence of 1 to 3 bone metastases. Study details: Stereotactic ablative body radiotherapy (SABR) is a new form of cancer treatment involving high precision radiotherapy. Standard radiotherapy treatment is usually delivered in small doses over many treatments (usually 5 to 20 treatments). SABR treatment is different as it uses a dose of radiation delivered in 1 or 2 treatments that is much higher than standard radiotherapy dosages with the aim of destroying all cancer cells at the site of treatment. The total dose of radiation may be 5-10 times higher than standard radiotherapy doses. SABR treatment appears to be effective in controlling cancer in other sites elsewhere in the body, including the lung, kidney and the liver. All participants in this study will be treated with SABR delivered in 1-3 sessions of 45-90 minutes duration. Participants will be regularly monitored during treatment and for a period of up to 24 months post treatment in order to evaluate the feasibility and tolerability of treatment, as well as treatment response.

An investigator-initiated and conducted, international collaborative, regionally organised, multicentre, prospective, cluster randomised, crossover, blinded outcome assessment study to compare the effectiveness of the lying flat (0 degree) head position with the sitting up (greater than 30 degrees) head position, in the first 24 hours of admission to hospital for patients with acute stroke, on the poor outcome of death or disability over the subsequent 90 days.