ANZCTR search results

The study is comparing two techniques to assess heart 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 heart function. Why might this test be needed? A "cardiac gated blood pool scan" (CGBS) is a commonly requested to scan to identify problems with your heart function. Impaired heart function can be a serious adverse effect of chemotherapy and other new anti-tumour agents. Depending on the type of treatment you are receiving, it is therefore important to identify any damage to the heart following treatment or to check heart function before starting treatment. If damage is found, the dose of your treatment may be reduced or a different type of treatment may be chosen. How is the standard test performed? The conventional test is a nuclear medicine imaging test which involves labelling blood with a radioactive substance, and then measuring the amount of blood in the heart during different parts of the heart beat. A special camera, called a gamma camera, measures activity in the heart which is matched (also called “gated”) to your heart rhythm. This test is called a “cardiac gated blood pool scan” (CGBS). The amount of blood being pumped out of your heart, called the left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF), can then be measured. How is the new test for this study performed? The new test is performed by labelling your blood with a different radioactive substance, called gallium-68. This enables images to be obtained on a newer type of camera, called a positron emission tomography (PET) scanner. What are the potential advantages of this new test? The PET scanner produces three-dimensional (3D) images of higher quality and in a shorter amount of time than the conventional test. How might this study contribute to patient care? The knowledge acquired from this study will be used to validate this new test. If we can demonstrate that it is at least as good or better than current technology, it may replace the existing test in the future. Trial details. This study aims to recruit 40 patients. Both the conventional and new CGBS will be performed in each patient, and the results compared. The new test involves an additional scan performed in a positron emission tomography (PET) scanner. Images of you heart will be performed for 5-10 minutes after being positioned on the bed of the PET scanner. The new scan will be performed shortly after the conventional scan.

This project is part of a research program funded by beyondblue to develop and evaluate Internet based treatment programs for older adults (60+) with anxiety and depression. This project examines the relative efficacy of guided and self-guided internet delivered treatment. Additionally, the study aims to examine the effect of a pre-treatment interview upon treatment outcomes for self-guided interventions. We expect that the guided intervention will result in superior outcomes to the self-guided interventions. Additionally, we expect that the self-guided intervention which includes a pre-treatment interview will result in superior outcomes when compared to the self-guided intervention without the interview.

This project is part of a research program funded by beyondblue to develop and evaluate Internet based treatment programs for young adults (18-24) with anxiety and depression. This project examines the relative efficacy of guided and self-guided internet delivered treatment. We expect that the guided interventions will result in superior outcomes to the unguided interventions.

Stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT) is an new form of cancer treatment involving highly precise radiotherapy. SBRT appears to be very effective in controlling cancer. After the treatment is given, however, with standard scans we have not been able to reliably assess how well the treatment worked. We propose to research SBRT with state-of-the-art scanning tools in patients with cancer spread to the lung. We aim to better understand how cancer responds to this therapy. This is the first step of the research, and is a small ‘pilot’ study. The ‘pilot’ is designed to assess whether the research can be completed. Who is it for? This trial is for patients who have cancer which has spread to the lung. We aim to enrol ten patients in total to participate in the research. These patients will be invited through Peter MacCallum at East Melbourne. Trial details: If you participate in this study you will have two different types of scans as well as a single stereotactic body radiotherapy session (SBRT). The two types of scans we are researching are called a four-dimensional positron emission tomography (4D-PET) scan and a computed tomography (CT) perfusion scan. Both scans are slow and recorded along with your breathing, which allows us to see how much your organs move as you breathe in and out. Each 4D-PET scan is broken down into many separate scans, each showing where your organs and the cancer are at a specific point of your breathing, for example, just as you start breathing in. For us to know whether you are breathing in or out, we will monitor your chest movement using breathing equipment. This will be done by either putting a belt around your chest or abdomen which senses your breathing, or a small lightweight reflective box on your chest and watch this using a special camera in the room. Both devices can tell us at which part of your breathing cycle each CT or PET image was taken, so we can make sets of images from each phase. Either device can be used during your scan, and this will depend on the particular machine on which you have your scan taken. The CT perfusion scan is similar to a standard CT scan, but is taken over a longer period of time with more contrast. This allows us to record the flow of contrast and blood flow into the cancer. Specifically, the research involves: 1. Before treatment, you will have a four-dimensional positron emission tomography (4D-PET) scan and a computed tomography (CT) perfusion scan, as a baseline. 2. After treatment, you will have another 4D-PET scan and a CT perfusion scan at day 14 and day 70. These will be compared with the first scans in order to assess how your cancer responded to the treatment. The stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT) treatment itself will routinely involve a third type of scan: a cone-beam CT. This scan is performed on the treatment machine, and is used to make the treatment more precise. Specifically, the stereotactic radiotherapy treatment involves as standard: 3. Prior to treatment whilst being set-up on the treatment machine, a cone-beam CT will be used to check the position of the cancer. This will be repeated immediately before the treatment and again mid-way through the treatment (a total of 3 cone-beam CTs). 4. A single high-precision, high-dose radiotherapy (SBRT) treatment directed against the cancer. Follow-up will involve a visit at approximately 2.5 to 3 months, and then at 6 months, 9 months, and 12 months from treatment. Participation in this study will involve no extra cost due to either having these scans or the treatment.

The broad aim of the project is to test the effectiveness of a new service program to be made available to mothers of young children. The unique feature of the program is that it will combine the skills of community nurses and web-based technology to enhance support for mothers of infants. Following the development of the new program, it's effectiveness will be tested in trial involving approximately 800 mothers and infants. Half of the mothers and infants will receive the combined program while the other half will receive routine care provided for by CaFHS. We will test whether the combined program achieves equivalent outcomes to that achieved by routine care. The outcomes this project will assess include levels of parenting self-efficacy, perceived support, maternal mental health, infant development and the quality of mother-infant attachment.

The aim of this study is to determine the effectiveness of a multi-media educational intervention for heart failure patients in reducing unplanned hospital admissions. Associated with this outcome, the study also aims to investigate whether patients who participate in this educational intervention demonstrate improvement in their knowledge and self-care abilities.

Previous research has shown that many people living with spinal cord injury demonstrate great resiliency and lead happy, productive lives. However, there are also many others who experience emotional difficulties such as depression or anxiety. Of particular concern is that the majority of people experiencing those difficulties do not receive any specific treatment or psychological support. To address this problem, a new flexible psychological treatment has been developed - ePACT. ePACT is delivered electronically and supplemented with personal contact by email and/or phone with a mental health clinician. The recent pilot of ePACT was well received, easily accessible and effective for participants who each found it acceptable and helpful. This current study will expand the distribution of ePACT to provide further evidence supporting the effectiveness of ePACT. This aim of this study is to build on the previous pilot study by investigating the suitability and effectiveness of ePACT on a larger body of people.

COPD is a leading cause of death in Australia and its prevalence is increasing globally. The majority of disease burden and costs in COPD are due to treatment of exacerbations, with hospitalisations being the major component. Almost all comorbidities exist more frequently in COPD patients compared to matched elderly populations. One third of COPD patients admitted to hospital have at least four coded comorbidities, and these add to the length of hospital stay. In selected populations of COPD patients, training in the use of COPD action plans reduces COPD exacerbation severity, emergency department visits, hospitalisations and health costs and improves health status. However, overlap in symptoms of COPD and comorbidities complicate the use of COPD action plans in the large group of patients with comorbidities. For example, in a COPD patient with comorbid cardiovascular disease, worsening of his dyspnoea can relate to either disease. Use of only a COPD action plan could lead to incorrect actions and/or delay of proper treatment. We have developed self-treatment training with ongoing nurse support for complex COPD patients. Feedback to patients from nurses is vital to optimize use of action plans. We will enrol 300 COPD patients (150 in each of Australia and the Netherlands) with at least one of the following comorbidity: ischaemic heart disease, heart failure, diabetes, or anxiety/depression. All patients will complete daily symptom diaries for 12 months. Control patients will receive usual care and training in diary completion. Intervention patients will be trained in the use of individualized action plans. We hypothesize that this novel self-treatment strategy will reduce exacerbation severity, hospitalisation stay and costs, and improve quality of life.

This project is part of a research program funded by the NHMRC (No. 630560) to develop and evaluate Internet based transdiagnostic education and treatment programs for people with anxiety and depression. This project examines the relative efficacy of a disorder-specific internet-delivered treatment for generalised anxiety disorder vs. trans-diagnostic internet-delivered treatment for both anxiety and depression. Both interventions will be tested in guided and self-guided formats. We expect that the guided interventions will result in superior outcomes to the unguided interventions. We do not expect differences between the two guided interventions at post-treatment, but expect that the trans-diagnostic treatment will result in superior outcomes at follow-ups.

This project is part of a research program funded by the NHMRC (No. 630560) to develop and evaluate Internet based transdiagnostic education and treatment programs for people with anxiety and depression. This project examines the relative efficacy of a disorder-specific internet-delivered treatment for social phobia vs. trans-diagnostic internet-delivered treatment for both anxiety and depression. Both interventions will be tested in guided and self-guided formats. We expect that the guided interventions will result in superior outcomes to the unguided interventions. We do not expect differences between the two guided interventions at post-treatment, but expect that the trans-diagnostic treatment will result in superior outcomes at follow-ups.