Mass General - Division of Clinical Research

This phase II trial studies the best approach to combine chemotherapy and radiation therapy (RT) based on the patient's response to induction chemotherapy in patients with non-germinomatous germ cell tumors (NGGCT) that have not spread to other parts of the brain or body (localized). This study has 2 goals: 1) optimizing radiation for patients who respond well to induction chemotherapy to diminish spinal cord relapses, 2) utilizing higher dose chemotherapy followed by conventional RT in patients who did not respond to induction chemotherapy. Chemotherapy drugs, such as carboplatin, etoposide, ifosfamide, and thiotepa, work in different ways to stop the growth of tumor cells, either by killing the cells, by stopping them from dividing, or by stopping them from spreading. Radiation therapy uses high energy x-rays or high-energy protons to kill tumor cells and shrink tumors. Studies have shown that patients with newly-diagnosed localized NGGCT, whose disease responds well to chemotherapy before receiving radiation therapy, are more likely to be free of the disease for a longer time than are patients for whom the chemotherapy does not efficiently eliminate or reduce the size of the tumor. The purpose of this study is to see how well the tumors respond to induction chemotherapy to decide what treatment to give next. Some patients will be given RT to the spine and a portion of the brain. Others will be given high dose chemotherapy and a stem cell transplant before RT to the whole brain and spine. Giving treatment based on the response to induction chemotherapy may lower the side effects of radiation in some patients and adjust the therapy to a more efficient one for other patients with localized NGGCT.

Type: Interventional

Start Date: Jul 2021

open study

In this research study the researchers want to learn more about brain activity related to speech perception and production.

Type: Interventional

Start Date: Oct 2020

open study

This phase III trial studies whether adding apalutamide to the usual treatment improves outcome in patients with lymph node positive prostate cancer after surgery. Radiation therapy uses high energy x-ray to kill tumor cells and shrink tumors. Androgens, or male sex hormones, can cause the growth of prostate cancer cells. Drugs, such as apalutamide, may help stop or reduce the growth of prostate cancer cell growth by blocking the attachment of androgen to its receptors on cancer cells, a mechanism similar to stopping the entrance of a key into its lock. Adding apalutamide to the usual hormone therapy and radiation therapy after surgery may stabilize prostate cancer and prevent it from spreading and extend time without disease spreading compared to the usual approach.

Type: Interventional

Start Date: Apr 2020

open study

The purpose of this study is to test the safety and tolerability of PMD-026 in patients with metastatic breast cancer. PMD-026 is a targeted oral agent designed to kill tumor cells in metastatic breast cancer.

Type: Interventional

Start Date: Nov 2019

open study

The Montalcino Aortic Consortium (MAC) will provide the infrastructure to assemble large cohorts of patients with mutations in known heritable thoracic aortic disease (H-TAD) genes, define the phenotype associated with these genes, and determine genetic and environmental modifiers of H-TAD.

Type: Observational [Patient Registry]

Start Date: Jun 2016

open study

Objectives of this study are to determine whether active VNS Therapy treatment is superior to a no stimulation control in producing a reduction in baseline depressive symptom severity, based on multiple depression scale assessment tools at 12 months from randomization.

Type: Interventional

Start Date: Sep 2019

open study

The goal of this study is to see whether kisspeptin, a naturally occurring hormone, can stimulate the release of other reproductive hormones in women with hypothalamic amenorrhea (HA). The investigators are also examining whether kisspeptin can help women release eggs from their ovaries. Kisspeptin will be administered subcutaneously (SC) for two weeks in a pulsatile fashion. Ultrasound monitoring of ovarian follicular growth and frequent blood sampling (every 10 minutes for up to two hours) will be performed to assess the physiologic response to kisspeptin over time.

Type: Interventional

Start Date: Dec 2025

open study

The investigators have developed an inexpensive tool to take pictures in the lower GI tract without sedation and to look for signs of disease. The tool is a capsule, about the size of a fish oil or multi-vitamin supplement, attached to a string. The capsule and string are connected to a motor to allow the capsule to advance up the participant's lower GI tract. The capsule will be inserted into the participant's lower GI tract and advance upward via a slow spiral motion. The capsule is connected to an imaging system that saves and displays the images in real time.

Type: Interventional

Start Date: Mar 2023

open study

The complex and unclear relationship between language and executive function (EF) creates barriers to developing effective interventions for children with developmental language disorder (DLD) whose language difficulties often co-occur with impaired EF. Children and adults with typical language development (TD) facilitate their EF by using self-directed language, or verbal mediation, to guide conscious reflection and override habitual behaviors. Conversely, children with DLD do not use verbal mediation to support EF efficiently or effectively. Promising evidence suggests that language-based training can shape verbal mediation and improve EF task performance in children with TD, which makes it pertinent to determine whether verbal mediation training benefits children with DLD. Specifically, modeling interventions have been shown to promote learning of language forms without taxing the cognitive resources required for learning such as attention or working memory, which are known to be impaired among children with DLD. The long-term goal of the proposed work is to optimize intervention outcomes for children with DLD by elucidating the complex relationship between language and executive functions. The objective of this project is to determine the impact of modeling verbal mediation on shifting task performance in school-aged children with DLD. Shifting, also known as cognitive flexibility, is the ability to alternate between operations or mental sets. It is an important EF because it is the pivot point between multiple goal-directed tasks when language use is critical for guiding action. Children aged 8-10 years will complete three versions of a shifting task over three phases: pre-intervention, intervention, and post-intervention. During the intervention phase, half of the participants with DLD will be exposed to a task model with verbal mediation (training), while the other half will be exposed to a silent task model (control). The investigators will determine the effect of modeling verbal mediation on the subsequent use of verbal mediation (Aim 1) and behavioral and electrophysiological measures of shifting ability (Aim 2). Indirect measures of shifting (i.e., accuracy and reaction time) will be supplemented with an electrophysiological marker of shifting that reflects real-time cue processing. This combination of methods provides insight to changes in processing following intervention that may precede and predict subsequent changes in behaviors. Our central hypothesis is that modeling verbal mediation will facilitate more effective use of verbal mediation and improve shift cue processing in children with DLD. The project will provide a theoretical framework for the role of language in shaping goal-directed behavior and the first examination of electrophysiological change in shifting following a verbal mediation intervention. Results will have a significant impact on clinical practice by advancing knowledge about a promising language-based intervention to support EF and other goal-directed tasks.

Type: Interventional

Start Date: Nov 2025

open study

This is an open label, phase I, multi-center study aiming to assess the safety and tolerability in patients with metastatic castration resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC).

Type: Interventional

Start Date: May 2025

open study

The primary purpose of this study is to evaluate the safety and tolerability, determine the maximally tolerated dose (MTD) and/or recommended Phase 2 dose(s) (RP2D) of PT0253 in adult participants with Kirsten rat sarcoma viral oncogene homolog (KRAS) G12D mutated advanced solid tumors as monotherapy.

Type: Interventional

Start Date: Dec 2024

open study

A Phase 2 study to evaluate the safety and efficacy of TORL-1-23 in patients with advanced ovarian cancer.

Type: Interventional

Start Date: Nov 2024

open study

The purpose of this platform study is to evaluate the safety, tolerability, pharmacokinetics (PK), and preliminary antitumor activity of novel RAS(ON) inhibitors combined with Standard(s) of Care (SOC) or with novel agents. The current subprotocols include the following: Subprotocol A: RMC-6236 + 5-fluorouracil-based regimens Subprotocol B: RMC-6236 + cetuximab with or without mFOLFOX6 Subprotocol C: RMC-6236 + gemcitabine + nab-paclitaxel Subprotocol D: RMC-9805 with or without RMC-6236 + 5-fluorouracil-based regimens Subprotocol E: RMC-9805 with or without RMC-6236 + cetuximab with or without mFOLFOX6 Subprotocol F: RMC-9805 with or without RMC-6236 + gemcitabine + nab-paclitaxel

Type: Interventional

Start Date: May 2024

open study

PUMA-ALI-1201 is a randomized, dose optimization, multicenter, Phase 2 study of alisertib administered in combination with endocrine therapy in participants with pathology-confirmed HR-positive/HER2-negative metastatic breast cancer (MBC) following progression on or after at least two prior lines of endocrine therapy in the recurrent or metastatic setting. This study is intended to evaluate the optimal alisertib dose administered in combination with the selected endocrine therapy. The study is also planned to evaluate the efficacy, safety, and pharmacokinetics of alisertib in combination with endocrine and to identify the biomarker-defined subgroup(s) that may benefit most from combined alisertib and endocrine therapy.

Type: Interventional

Start Date: Nov 2024

open study

The objective of this study is to evaluate the safety, tolerability, and efficacy of BL-B01D1 in patients with Metastatic or Unresectable Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC) and Other Solid Tumors.

Type: Interventional

Start Date: Aug 2023

open study

This goal of this study is to test an information and support intervention for patients with malignant (or "high-grade") brain tumors. This study was developed to help patients cope after a brain tumor diagnosis. The main question this study aims to answer is whether this intervention (which includes access to an information guide and one-on-one coaching sessions) is feasible (i.e., possible to carry out) and acceptable (i.e., considered helpful) to patients. Participants will be asked to take part in the coaching sessions, use the guide as desired, and complete a small group of short surveys at three different points in time; some participants will be asked to share feedback via exit interviews.

Type: Interventional

Start Date: Nov 2023

open study

This study is being done to better understand whether meal replacements can be an effective tool for weight loss and treatment of elevated blood sugars in people with obesity/overweight and diabetes/pre-diabetes who have a low income.

Type: Observational

Start Date: Mar 2023

open study

The aim of this study is to investigate the effect of romosozumab on bone cells during early and late phases of treatment.

Type: Interventional

Start Date: Jun 2023

open study

The study will consist of a 24-week-long trial examining outcomes in patients with Major Depressive Disorder and suicidal ideation who will receive intravenous (IV) ketamine and intranasal (IN) esketamine, compared to a large sample of matched historical controls. Patients will be recruited from an inpatient psychiatric unit. Eligible patients who provided informed consent will be enrolled in the study that will include a eight IV ketamine treatments, 13 esketamine treatment visits, seven long assessment visits, five short assessment visits, and daily surveys. The study will examine the feasibility, tolerability, and efficacy of repeated IV ketamine followed by esketamine, as well as predictors of treatment response.

Type: Interventional

Start Date: Oct 2022

open study

In this single-center, longitudinal observational study, we will comprehensively examine clinical characteristics, proteomic, metabolomic, genomic and imaging data to better understand how different heart failure types may develop and progress over time. We will evaluate distinct sub-groups of heart failure (also known as heart failure phenotypes) and cardiomyopathies including amyloidosis with an ultimate goal of bringing the right medications and therapy to the right patients to optimize benefit and minimized side effects, an effort to improve precision medicine in heart failure.

Type: Observational [Patient Registry]

Start Date: Apr 2016

open study

The development of symptomatic heart failure is frequently preceded by a pre-clinical period of structural remodeling in the heart. The remodeling process driving this transition, however, remains poorly understood. The investigators hypothesize that imaging the diffusion of water in the heart with MRI will allow its microstructure to be resolved. The investigators further hypothesize that the characterization of microstructural changes in the heart will help elucidate the pathogenesis of heart failure and the transition from a compensated to a decompensated state. Patients with recent myocardial infarcts and left ventricular hypertrophy, who are at risk for the development of heart failure, will be enrolled. The participants will undergo serial diffusion tensor MRI (DTI) imaging of the heart to characterize changes in myocardial microstructure over time.

Type: Interventional

Start Date: Jun 2017

open study

This project explores whether heated yoga, sauna, and a mindfulness app reduce depressive symptoms

Type: Interventional

Start Date: Sep 2025

open study

This is a Phase II parallel group randomized controlled trial with 294 adolescents (age: 14-21 years) with alcohol and other drug [AOD] use disorder (hereafter substance use disorder), that compares two different active psychosocial interventions designed to address adolescent substance use disorder. Participants are recruited from our clinical settings and the community at two sites: one in the metro Boston, Massachusetts (MA) area and the other in the metro Farmington, Connecticut (CT), area. Study aims and hypotheses are as follows: 1. To extend the evidence for the initial efficacy of Integrated Treatment for Enhancing Growth in Recovery During Adolescence (InTEGRA), which integrates 12-Step Facilitation (TSF) with Motivational Enhancement Therapy/Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (MET/CBT) relative to gold standard MET/CBT alone (N = 294). It is hypothesized that youth assigned to InTEGRA will have greater 12-step participation during and following treatment, higher abstinence rates, and fewer substance-related negative consequences. 2. Investigate the personal recovery capital (PRC) and social recovery capital (SRC) mechanisms of behavior change through which InTEGRA may confer benefits dynamically over time (e.g., PRC: motivation, self-efficacy, coping; SRC: 12-step involvement; social network changes). 3. Investigate moderators of InTEGRA's effects on outcomes across one-year follow-up (e.g., effect of age, network support for AOD use; psychiatric severity; age composition of 12-step meetings on substance use and substance-related consequences). It is hypothesized that higher network support for AOD use, abstinence motivation, and greater AOD severity, will have a better response to InTEGRA. 4. Explore barriers and facilitators to InTEGRA adoption and implementation across providers and system administrators within the context of a type I hybrid effectiveness-implementation research design.

Type: Interventional

Start Date: Nov 2024

open study

The purpose of this research study is to see how well an imaging test, called 18FDCFPyL prostate specific membrane antigen (PSMA) positron emission tomography (PET), can show the extent of prostate cancer when comparing to 68Ga-PSMA-11 PET/CT (another type of diagnostic scan for prostate cancer).

Type: Interventional

Start Date: Apr 2024

open study

This research study is studying a positron emission tomography (PET) agent called 18F-fluciclovine to evaluate how well 18F-fluciclovine-PET scans determine the extent of advanced prostate cancer that either has low prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA) expression or has neuroendocrine features. The name of the study interventions are: - 18F-fluciclovine-PET/CT scan - Two research blood collections

Type: Interventional

Start Date: Feb 2024

open study