ANZCTR search results

The purpose of this research is to: 1. Create a library (“biorepository”) of cancer samples to use in future research projects. 2. Collect medical information about patients to put with the cancer samples. 3. Keep some cells to grow in the laboratory (“cell lines”) and grow pieces of cancer tissue in specially bred mice (“xenografting”). Who is it for? You may be eligible for this study if you are an adult who has been diagnosed with metastatic cancer. Study details Participants will be asked to provide a 40ml sample of blood after they have consented to the research and in the future allow for tissue collection post mortem. It is hoped that this research will provide important information on how cancer cells grow, change over time and spread. This information is essential to help design more effective therapies for cancer patients in the future. This research is being conducted by the Garvan Institute of Medical Research and The Kinghorn Cancer Centre.

The aim of this study is to test the safety and effectiveness of prostate specific membrane antigen (PSMA) labelled with a radioactive substance called Lutetium-177 (177Lu) in progressive prostate cancer patients. Who is it for? You may be eligible to join this study if you are aged 18 years or over and have a progressive PSMA expressing castration-resistant prostate cancer. Study details Participants will receive up to four 42-day cycles, with each cycle requiring a single intravenous injection of a radioactive substance called therapeutic 177 Lu-PSMA. The exact number of treatment cycles administered and dose given will be determined by the treating doctor. Participants will then be followed for one year after completion of study to assess safety and effectiveness of the intervention. Study rationale Using PSMA labelled molecules enables targeted delivery of high doses radiation to sites of prostate cancer. This treatment is called radionuclide therapy and it aims to minimise radiation of most normal tissue sites. Study Declarations This is a new type of treatment and long-term response and toxicity data are not yet available. The drugs used in this study are not approved by the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) and considered an experimental treatment. This research has been initiated by the study doctor, A/Prof Louise Emmett, and is sponsored by St Vincent’s Hospital Sydney with funding provided by the St Vincent’s Prostate Cancer Centre. This will allow you to have the LuPSMA treatment free of charge for your conduct of the research.

Blunt chest injury can cause significant morbidity and mortality if not treated appropriately. An evidence-based, multidisciplinary early notification mechanism and care bundle for patients with isolated blunt chest wall injury was implemented as the standard of care at two NSW sites in 2017. This was named the Chest Injury bundle of care Protocol (ChIP) This is a retrospective multi-site observational evaluation of ChIP, specifically a comparison of hospitals that currently use ChIP with hospitals that do not use ChIP, and also pre- and post-comparison at hospitals with ChIP. This study is a real-world evaluation of the effect of the protocol (ChIP) on patients, health service outcomes and costing. The implementation processes will also be evaluated. The primary outcome measure is non-invasive ventilation to investigate if the implementation of ChIP will result in a reduced incidence of patients with isolated blunt chest injury requiring NIV. NIV is considered an indication of respiratory deterioration. Evaluation will be using retrospectively collected data linked to NSW Admitted Patient Data Collection (APDC) data and NSW Activity Based Funding data.

Total Cardiac Care is a novel and innovative smartphone application-centric model of care aimed at supporting patients in the transition between hospital discharge and the community to improve health outcomes and reduce readmission rates. The patient’s smartphone is paired to a blood pressure monitor and weighing scales that allow the app to accurately track activity, heart rate, blood pressure and weight. The Total Cardiac Care (TCC) app-based model of care consists of two components: (1) a patient interface that supports healthy behaviour change, guided by the NSW Heart Foundation’s Managing My Heart Health resource; and (2) the central monitoring of patients from a virtual clinic with the support of a community-facing cardiac assessment unit to allow the early detection of decompensation and prevention of readmission to hospital. The aim of the project is to determine if the Total Cardiac Care smartphone application-centric model of care reduces the number of times patients with heart disease are re-admitted to hospital after being discharged.

The project aims to evaluate the feasibility and clinical utility of the Tyromotion Diego robotic equipment to assist in the upper limb rehabilitation of people with a cervical spinal cord injury in acute care. A cervical spinal cord injury is catastrophic and causes significant functional limitations. Patients are often very keen to participate in rehabilitation sessions to assist them to undertake functional tasks such as self feeding, grooming or using a mobile phone. A six week intervention protocol involving pre and post outcome measures has been devised, including three sessions per week using the Tyromotion. We will investigate the outcomes achieved during the intervention period and interview patients about their experience of the intervention.

This study aims to explore if a telehealth rehabilitation consultation is useful to follow up patients with injury from road accidents after hospital discharge. All patients will receive a telehealth consultation with a rehabilitation physician and allied health professional (1-3 weeks after discharge), to identify rehabilitation needs and receive referral to community-based rehabilitation services. Patients will be followed up at 1 month and 3 months to see how many had rehabilitation needs identified during telehealth consultation and their levels of acceptance/satisfaction with the telehealth consultation.

This feasibility pilot study will compare two methods of delivery, facilitated by a Neuropsychologist or completed independently, for an evidence-based, structured Healthy Brain Ageing (HBA) cognitive training (CT) and psychoeducation program, designed to improve cognitive and psychosocial functioning in people with Subjective Cognitive Impairment (SCI), Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) or Parkinson’s Disease (PD). While the program has been shown to be successful in over 350 participants to-date, it has previously only been offered in-person in group-based sessions, which has limited translational capacity. We now seek to evaluate other delivery methods with a view to more readily providing this program to individuals in the community in the future, pending trial outcomes.

This study is testing a combination of a medication called Ibrutinib and infusions of EBV-specific immune cells in the treatment of lymphoma. Who is it for? You may be eligible for this study if you are aged 18 or over and have confirmed EBV positive lymphoma, including Hodgkin-, non Hodgkin-, Systemic, central nervous system and ocular lymphomas. Study details All participants will take orally tablets of the medication Ibrutinib daily for 78 weeks (about one and a half years). In addition to this medication, participants will have 4 infusions, via needle, of virus-specific immune cells. Throughout the study various standard tests will be conducted including blood tests, radiographic imaging and questionnaires. It is hoped this research will demonstrate that these infusions in combination with Ibrutinib will be a safe and effective therapy for lymphoma patients with compromised immune systems.

Fungal infections after receiving a bone marrow transplant is lethal and requires costly anti-fungal treatment . This study will give immune cells to transplant patients to fight the infection. We hope that these immune cells will shorten the amount of anti-fungal drugs required and improve patient outcomes.

This study is a Randomised Controlled trial (RCT) of an online, schools-based, mental health service called Smooth Sailing. This study will evaluate the effectiveness of Smooth Sailing in comparison to a waitlist control group. Smooth Sailing is a service designed to screen and assess the levels of depression and anxiety among secondary high school students. Using a website, students register to the service and then complete an assessment of their mental health symptoms which consists of brief, clinically validated questionnaires. The service then allocates each student to one of five steps for which different online activities are prescribed. The school counsellor is automatically notified by the service when students are allocated to the highest steps, which indicate the most severe symptoms or if or if they report thoughts that they would be better off dead or harming themselves In some way. The school counsellor then follows up with these students in person. This 12-week trial aims to evaluate the effectiveness of the Smooth Sailing service for improving help-seeking as well as reducing symptoms of depression, anxiety, and distress among secondary school students. It is hypothesised students receiving the Smooth Sailing service will report improved help-seeking, reduced distress, depression, and anxiety, when compared to the waitlist control.