Radiation Oncology

Below are current clinical trials.

Filter this list of studies by location, status and more.

1. A Registry for Children Treated with Proton Radiation Therapy

   Rochester, Minn.

   The purpose of the Pediatric Proton Consortium Registry (PPCR) is to enroll children who have been treated with proton radiation in the United States in order to describe the population that currently receives protons and better evaluate its benefits over other therapies. The data collected from this study will help facilitate research on proton beam radiation therapy and allow for collaborative research. The PPCR will collect demographic and clinical data which many centers that deliver proton radiation therapy already collect in routine operations.

2. Chemotherapy Alone or Chemotherapy Plus Radiation Therapy in Treating Patients with Locally Advanced Rectal Cancer Undergoing Surgery

   Mankato, Minn.

   The standard treatment for locally advanced rectal cancer involves chemotherapy and radiation, known as 5FUCMT, (the chemotherapy drugs 5-fluorouracil/capecitabine and radiation therapy) prior to surgery. Although radiation therapy to the pelvis has been a standard and important part of treatment for rectal cancer and has been shown to decrease the risk of the cancer coming back in the same area in the pelvis, some patients experience undesirable side effects from the radiation and there have been important advances in chemotherapy, surgery, and radiation which may be of benefit. The purpose of this study is to compare the effects, both good and bad, of the standard treatment of chemotherapy and radiation to chemotherapy using a combination regimen known as FOLFOX, (the drugs 5-fluorouracil (5-FU), oxaliplatin and leucovorin) and selective use of the standard treatment, depending on response to the FOLFOX. The drugs in the FOLFOX regimen are all FDA (Food and Drug Administration) approved and have been used routinely to treat patients with advanced colorectal cancer.

3. Stereotactic Radiation Therapy for Pediatric Sarcomas

   Rochester, Minn.

   The SBRT (stereotactic body radiation therapy) literature focuses on clinical outcomes in the adult population. However, SBRT (stereotactic body radiation therapy) has a particularly strong rationale for application in pediatrics given that high biologically effective doses have been shown to increase control in histologies, such as sarcoma, which are common in the pediatrics population (11,25). With stereotactic radiation therapy techniques, a reduction in normal tissue dose surrounding the target lesion of interest may also be accomplished resulting in lower toxicity. Given that pediatric patients with sarcomas, presenting with limited metastases in lung and bone, are still considered to be a curable population with aggressive local therapy, SBRT could have a significant impact on outcomes in oligometastatic patients who may be otherwise unresectable (25-28).

4. Cardiac Toxicity Following Radiotherapy

   Rochester, Minn.

   The purpose of this study is to determine if stress cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) imaging will allow us to detect radiation-related cardiac toxicity before other evaluation modalities would allow.

5. Pleurectomy/Decortication (Neo) Adjuvant Chemotherapy and Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy to the Pleura in Patients With Locally Advanced Malignant Pleural Mesothelioma

   Rochester, Minn.

   For patients with this type of cancer, the standard of care is treatment with chemotherapy. Radiation therapy is typically not used. This is because radiation to the entire lining of the lung has many side effects that are often severe including damage to the lung (pneumonitis). There is a new radiation technique using Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy (IMRT) that has been shown to reduce many of the side effects of standard radiation therapy. This type of radiation therapy specifically targets the lining of the lung, where you have your cancer, and reduces the risk of damaging the lung itself. The purpose of this study is to test the safety and implementation of standard pleurectomy/decortication (removal of the surface lining of the lung) performed at other centers. Patients will undergo pleurectomy/decortication chemotherapy and hemithoracic pleural IMRT to the pleura in patients with malignant pleural mesothelioma.

6. A Study to Compare the Toxic Effects and Disease Outcomes of Intensity-Modulated Proton Beam Therapy versus Intensity-Modulated Photon Therapy for the Treatment of Mouth and Throat Cancers

   Rochester, Minn.

   The purpose of this study is to compare the toxic side effects and disease outcomes of intensity modulated photon therapy versus intensity modulated proton therapy. Participants may also receive chemotherapy along with radiation therapy.

    

7. A Study of Standard of Care Therapy, with or without the Addition of Stereotactic Radiosurgery and/or Surgery, for Treating Patients with Limited Metastatic Breast Cancer

   Rochester, Minn.

   This randomized phase II/III trial studies how well standard of care therapy with stereotactic radiosurgery and/or surgery works and compares it to standard of care therapy alone in treating patients with breast cancer that has spread to one or two locations in the body (limited metastatic) that are previously untreated. Standard of care therapy comprising chemotherapy, hormonal therapy, biological therapy, and others may help stop the spread of tumor cells. Radiation therapy and/or surgery is usually only given with standard of care therapy to relieve pain; however, in patients with limited metastatic breast cancer, stereotactic radiosurgery, also known as stereotactic body radiation therapy, may be able to send x-rays directly to the tumor and cause less damage to normal tissue and surgery may be able to effectively remove the metastatic tumor cells. It is not yet known whether standard of care therapy is more effective with stereotactic radiosurgery and/or surgery in treating limited metastatic breast cancer.

8. A Registry Study for the Long-Term Outcomes of Radiation Therapy

   Scottsdale/Phoenix, Ariz.

   The purpose of this long term registry study is to collect and analyze information from patients being treated with various forms of radiation therapy to improve the treatment of future patients.

9. A Study of Performing Surgery for Resectable Malignant Pleural Mesothelioma After Radiation Therapy

   Rochester, Minn.

   The purpose of this study is to assess the possibility, safety, and therapeutic effect of administering a short, quick course of high-dose radiation treatment focused on half of the chest, followed by surgery to remove that portion of the lungs, in patients with malignant pleural mesothelioma.  

10. A Study to Evaluate the Safety and Effectiveness of Hypofractionation Proton Beam Therapy in Patients who have Clinically Localized, High Risk or Unfavorable Intermediate Risk Prostate Cancer

    Scottsdale/Phoenix, Ariz., Rochester, Minn.

    The purpose of this study is to evaluate the safety and effectiveness of a moderate hypofractionation regimen of proton beam therapy with same time treatment of the prostate, seminal vesicles, and the regional pelvic nodes  for patients who have clinically localized, high risk or unfavorable intermediate risk prostate cancer.