Clinical Research Directory

Additional Chemotherapy Administered Directly Into the Liver Using a Chemo Pump in Patients With Bile Duct Cancer Inside the Liver Treatable by Surgery

The goal of this clinical trial is to learn if additional chemotherapy by means of a chemo pump can prevent return of disease in adult patients with bile duct cancer in the liver that can be treated with surgery. The main questions it aims to answer are: * Does addition of chemotherapy by means of a chemo pump lead to less return of disease within the liver two years after surgery? * Does addition of chemotherapy by means of a chemo pump lead to longer survival of patients? * Does addition of chemotherapy by means of a chemo pump lead to an increase in quality of life? Participants will receive an implanted chemo pump, through which additional chemotherapy will be given to the liver in addition to surgery.

Inter-Individual Tumor Heterogeneity on 3D-MRE for Predicting Response to Conversion Therapy in Liver Cancer

How to predict which patients with initially unresectable liver cancer are more likely to respond to conversion therapy remains an important unresolved problem in guiding treatment strategy and surgical timing. Substantial variation exists among patients in their tumor response to the same conversion therapy regimen, and current pretreatment imaging assessment does not adequately capture this inter-individual variability. We hypothesize that baseline tumor viscoelastic parameters measured by three-dimensional magnetic resonance elastography (3D-MRE) differ substantially across patients, and that this inter-individual heterogeneity may be associated with differential response to conversion therapy. This study aims to prospectively evaluate the association between baseline 3D-MRE-derived tumor viscoelastic parameters and pathological response as well as surgical conversion outcomes across patients with liver cancer receiving conversion therapy.

Peritumoral MRE Stiffness for Predicting Resection Margin Status and Recurrence in Liver Cancer

Microscopic residual tumor at the resection margin is a critical risk factor for recurrence in patients undergoing hepatectomy for liver cancer, yet current detection relies solely on postoperative pathological examination of the resected specimen, which reflects only the removed tissue rather than the actual remnant liver in the patient. How to non-invasively detect residual tumor at the resection margin of the remnant liver after surgery remains an important unresolved problem in the surgical management of liver cancer. We hypothesize that tissue stiffness at the resection margin of the remnant liver, measured by postoperative three-dimensional magnetic resonance elastography (3D-MRE), may reflect microscopic residual tumor and may therefore correlate with pathological resection margin status and be predictive of postoperative tumor recurrence. This study aims to prospectively evaluate the diagnostic performance of postoperative 3D-MRE in detecting residual tumor at the resection margin, using pathological resection margin status as the reference standard, and to further assess its value in predicting tumor recurrence in patients undergoing hepatectomy for liver cancer.