Clinical Trials Search at Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center

This study compares therapy within the bladder (intravesical therapy) and surgery as treatment options for patients with bladder cancer. Bladder cancer is the fifth most common cancer in the United States, but not enough research is available to help patients decide between the two most common treatments: medical therapies or bladder removal. The purpose of this study is to compare how the two treatments affect patient clinical outcomes and patient and caregiver experiences. This study may help researchers improve the decision-making process about bladder cancer treatments for patients and their caregivers.

This trial tests the use of a disposable perfusion phantom (P4) to decrease errors in calculating the blood flow of a tissue with DCE-MRI. DCE-MRI is used calculate blood flow of various tissues including tumors. Blood flow often serves as a critical indicator showing a disease status. For example, a pancreatic tumor has typically low blood flow, so it can be used as an indicator to identify the presence of a pancreatic tumor. In addition, an effective therapy may result in the increase of blood flow in a pancreatic tumor during the early period of treatment. Therefore, DCE-MRI may be used to determine whether the undergoing therapy is effective or not by measuring the change of blood flow in the pancreatic tumor and may help doctors decide whether to continue the therapy or try a different one. Unfortunately, the measurement of blood flow using DCE-MRI is not accurate. The use of an artificial tissue, named "phantom" or P4, together with a patient may help to reduce errors in DCE-MRI because errors will affect the images of both the patient and the phantom. Because it is known how the blood flow of the phantom appears when no errors are present, the phantom may be used to detect what kinds of errors are present in the image, how many errors are present in the image, and how to remove errors from the image.

This trial collects data on response to low-dose skin electron therapy in patients with stage IB-IIIA mycosis fungoides that does not respond to treatment (refractory) or has come back (relapsed). Collecting data on patient's response to therapy, both in terms of changes in the skin and in terms of quality of life following treatment, may help doctors better predict response to therapy.

This study measures the impact of patient-specific 3D specimen maps on adjuvant radiation treatment volumes and doses to critical organs.

This clinical trial evaluates different nerve patterns to the throat muscles (stylopharyngeus and pharyngeal constrictor) and what they look like in different patients by measuring and photographing them in the neck during surgery when the nerves are dissected (separated into pieces) as part of regular surgical care. Researchers think that some of the muscles in the neck might be useful for treating a condition called obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). This happens when muscles of the throat relax at night and the airway becomes blocked. Blockage of airflow leads to drops in oxygen levels and can disturb sleep by forcing a persons brain to wake to restore airway muscles so they can breathe. This trial may help researchers provide a new way to treat OSA that may be better than the current standard ones.

To compare the effectiveness of an APCD to Usual Care in the management of lymphedema and
fibrosis (LEF) in head and neck cancer (HNC) survivors.

This phase II trial tests whether designing radiation to avoid bone marrow in the spine (vertebral bone marrow) leads to less reduction of white blood cell counts (lymphopenia) in patients with lung cancer. This sparing technique could lead to better disease control and outcome.