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401 active trials for Surgery

Recurrence After Whipple's (RAW) Study: Investigating Recurrence Patterns After Pancreaticoduodenectomy for Pancreatic, Ampullary or Distal Bile Duct Cancer

Pancreatic head malignancies are aggressive cancers that are often inoperable when they are diagnosed. In the ~20% of patients who are diagnosed when the disease is still operable, surgery is the only treatment that can provide a chance of cure. Unfortunately, up to 75% of patients undergoing surgery will have the cancer come back (recur). One of the reasons for this is the challenge of removing the whole tumour with some surrounding non-cancerous tissue to ensure that every tumour cell has been removed. This is difficult because there are many structures very close to the pancreas (such as the blood vessels that supply the intestines) that cannot be removed. A recent review study of >1700 patients who had a Whipple's operation (the cancer operation that is performed to remove the head of pancreas) and found that whilst the majority of patients had cancer recurrence in distant sites (like the liver) that would not be affected by how the operation was performed, 12% of patients had the cancer recur just at the site of where the operation had been; this is known as 'local' recurrence. This suggests that a small amount of cancer was not removed at the time of surgery in these patients. Very few studies have looked at the relationship between the Computerised Tomography (CT) scan before surgery and the histology results (information about the tumour after it has been examined under the microscope) and whether this can predict exactly where the tumour recurs. If investigators can find factors that predict which patients get local only recurrence, investigators may be able to offer improved surgical techniques or other therapies during or immediately after the operation to these patients, hopefully leading to improved cure rates. This retrospective international study will look at these factors in patients who underwent a Whipple's operation for pancreatic cancer, bile duct cancer or ampullary cancer over a three year period between 2012 and 2015. Participating centres will provide data on pre-operative scans, complications around the time of surgery, any therapies (e.g. chemotherapy) that the patients had and if and where the cancer recurred. With this information, investigators hope to find ways to predict which patients will get local-only recurrence, so researchers can select them for future studies to see if additional treatments can improve the chance of cure from surgery for these patients.

Start: October 2020
The GCO-002 CACOVID-19 Cohort: a French Nationwide Multicenter Study of COVID-19 Infected Cancer Patients

Since December 2019, China and then the rest of the world have been affected by the rapid development of a new coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2 (severe acute respiratory syndrome corona virus 2). The disease caused by this coronavirus (COVID-19), which is transmitted by air via droplets, is potentially responsible for a severe respiratory syndrome but also for a multivisceral deficiency that can lead to death. Cancer patients are generally more susceptible to infections than people without cancer due to immunosuppression caused by their tumor disease and/or conventional anti-cancer treatments used such as cytotoxic chemotherapy, several targeted therapies, radiotherapy or recent surgery. These patients may therefore be at particular risk for COVID-19. This is suggested by the very first analysis on the subject, which reports data from the Chinese prospective database of 2007 patients with proven COVID-19 infection in 575 hospitals in 31 Chinese provinces. The authors of this publication conclude with 3 measures to be proposed to patients undergoing cancer follow-up: 1/ consider postponing adjuvant chemotherapy or surgery in the case of localized and stable cancer, 2/ reinforce protective measures for these patients, and 3/ monitor very closely and treat these patients more intensively when they have a COVID-19. However, the increased risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection and severe forms of COVID-19 in cancer patients suggested by this first study remains to be demonstrated given its limitations, already highlighted by other authors. Indeed, the number of patients is small and the population of cancer patients is very heterogeneous, with in particular 12 patients out of 16 who had recovered from initial cancer treatments (therefore without immunosuppression), half of whom had a disease course of more than 4 years. Nevertheless, a second Chinese study has just recently been published, reporting COVID-19 data among 1524 cancer patients admitted between December 30, 2019 and February 17, 2020 in the Department of Radiotherapy and Medical Oncology of the University Hospital of Wuhan, the source city of the COVID-19 epidemic. Although the rate of CoV-2 SARS infection was lower than that reported in the first study, it was still 0.79% (n=12), which is much higher than the rate of COVID-19 diagnosed in Wuhan City during the same period (0.37%, 41 152/11 081 000). Again, lung cancer was the main tumour location observed in 7 patients (58%), of which 5 (42%) were undergoing chemotherapy +/- immunotherapy. Three deaths (25%) were reported. Patients over 60 years of age with lung cancer had a higher incidence of COVID-19 (4.3% vs. 1.8%). Thus, it appears that the risk of COVID-19 is actually increased in cancer patients, although again, less than half of the patients with lung cancer had a higher incidence of COVID-19. Moreover, two more recent studies performed in patients treated in Hubei Province of China and in New-York city found that patients with cancer had significantly increased risk of death compared to non-cancer COVID-19 patients, especially patients with metastatic cancer and those who had recent surgery. Therefore, many questions remain to date on the level of risk and the severity of COVID-19 in patients with active cancer, in particular those under anti-cancer treatment and in patients recently operated for localized cancer.

Start: April 2020
Arthroscopic Synovectomy of the Wrist in Inflammatory Arthritis

Rationale: Psoriatic (PsA) and rheumatoid arthritis (RA) are inflammatory joint diseases that often involve the wrist and may result in progressive joint destruction followed by impaired wrist function and reduced quality of life. The first line treatment usually consists of conventional Disease-Modifying Anti-Rheumatic Drugs (cDMARDs) along with bridging therapy using systemic corticosteroids or intra-articular corticosteroids in case of limited joint disease. After initiation therapy, intra-articular corticosteroids are often utilized as they provide rapid dampening of joint inflammation in case of a flare-up of disease activity (mono- or oligoarthritis). However, a substantial part of these patients clinically respond poorly or not at all. Alternatively, arthroscopic synovectomy may provide substantial relieve of symptoms, improve functionality, slow down disease progression and prevent joint destruction, as earlier studies have suggested. Prospective randomized studies are needed to confirm these findings. Moreover, they may prevent the need for expensive biological Disease-Modifying Anti-Rheumatic Drugs (bDMARDs) and assist in guiding therapeutic strategies in the long run, through collecting and analysing valuable synovial biopsies. Wrist arthroscopy is a routine procedure in the participating centres with only minor complications and fast recovery. Objective: To compare arthroscopic synovectomy with deposition of intra-articular corticosteroids (DIACS) versus intra-articular injection of corticosteroids (IACSI) in RA and PsA patients with mono- or oligoarthritis of the wrist that is refractory to cDMARD therapy. Study design: Multi-centre randomized controlled trial conducted in the Maasstad Hospital and Spijkenisse Medisch Centrum (SMC). Study population: Patients with active RA or PsA and bDMARD-naive, who develop a localized flare of disease activity (mono- or oligoarthritis) that involves the wrist, defined as an increase in DAS28 > 1.2 or > 0.6 if DAS28 ? 3.2 compared to the last DAS28 measurement (maximum six months before) and that is refractory to systemic cDMARD for at least three months, defined as no response on the European League Against Rheumatism (EULAR) response criteria. Intervention: This study will randomize between IACSI of the wrist (control) and arthroscopic synovectomy of the wrist combined with DIACS (intervention). During arthroscopy synovial biopsies will be collected and stored for later analysis of the functional and histological characteristics of the synovium (beyond the scope of this study). Main study parameters/endpoints: Primary outcome is the change in Patient-Rated Wrist Evaluation (PRWE) score from randomization to three months of follow-up. The PRWE is a validated, fifteen-item self-reported questionnaire rating wrist pain and function. Secondary outcomes are resolution of wrist arthritis measured by ultrasound, standard wrist radiographs, DAS28, EULAR response rate, Visual Analogue Scale (VAS), EQ-5D quality of life questionnaire, iMTA Productivity Cost Questionnaire (iPCQ), iMTA Medical Consumption Questionnaire (iMCQ), cost effectiveness analyses (CEA), physical examination, adverse events (AE) and laboratory results. Follow-up visits are scheduled at three, six and twelve months after intervention. Nature and extent of the burden and risks associated with study participation: Both study arms include standard treatment of care. Wrist arthroscopy is a standard treatment for wrist arthritis and often implemented for other intra-articular wrist pathology. The risks include infection, neurovascular damage and articular surface damage. Nevertheless, wrist arthroscopy is a well-established and safe technique. Reduction of risks will be done according to inclusion and exclusion criteria. If complications arise, the treating physician will proportionate the adequate treatment according to the current protocols based on the published literature. Patients will be asked to return at three, six and twelve months. These visits are standard of care following the rheumatic arthritis protocol. Patients will be asked to complete questionnaires at baseline and at three follow-up moments. These will take 160 minutes in total. The arthroscopy group will return between ten to fourteen days for wound inspection. All patient will be contacted by telephone at two, four and six weeks for VAS pain scores. Expected results: We expect that arthroscopic synovectomy followed by DIACS will lead to significantly more improvement in PRWE scores compared to IACSI three months after intervention. Furthermore, we anticipate that wrist arthroscopy will result in lower pain scores, better joint mobility, better response on EULAR score, sustained resolution of arthritis on ultrasound, less joint damage on radiographs and is more cost-effective after one-year analysis.

Start: January 2021