Instituto do Cancer do Estado de Sao Paulo

Amisulpride is a potent antagonist of dopamine D2 and D3 receptors, both implicated in the emetic response when activated. It is currently used intravenously for the prevention of chemotherapy-induced and postoperative nausea and vomiting (PONV), but this route has a short half-life time of 4 to 5 hours, could be expensive, causes infusion-related pain, and is not available in Brazil. Some of these limitations could be overcome by the preemptive use of an oral formulation. At present, there are no data regarding the use of oral amisulpride for PONV, which is an affordable and painless option with half-life time of 12 hours. We propose a quadruple-blind clinical trial involving patients undergoing gynecological surgery aged 18 years and older, and assessed as being at high risk for PONV according to the Apfel Score (score 3 or 4). The primary outcome of this study is to evaluate complete response to PONV up to 24h, comparing the efficacy of adding 50 mg oral amisulpride as a third antiemetic agent to the standard institutional protocol at the Hospital da Mulher of São Paulo (IV dexamethasone 10 mg + IV ondansetron 4 mg) for laparoscopic surgeries. Secondary outcomes will evaluate (1) nausea, (2) vomiting, (3) nausea and vomiting, (4) use of rescue treatment, (5) overall adverse events, and (6) adverse events.

In a previous clinical trial in China and the United States (US), the investigators developed and validated a mobile, high-resolution microendoscope (mHRME) for screening and surveillance of esophageal squamous cell neoplasia (ESCN). The trial revealed higher specificity for qualitative (visual) interpretation by experts but not the novice and in the surveillance arm (100% vs. 19%, p <0.05). In the screening arm, diagnostic yield (neoplastic biopsies/total biopsies) increased 3.6 times (8 to 29%); 16% of patients were correctly spared any biopsy, and 18% had a change in clinical plan. In a pilot study in Brazil, the investigators tested a software-assisted mHRME with deep-learning software algorithms to aid in the detection of neoplastic images and determine the performance, efficiency, and impact of the AI-mHRME when to Lugol's chromoendoscopy (LCE) alone and when using AI-mHRME with LCE. In this clinical trial, the investigators will build on the Brazil pilot trial data to optimize an artificial intelligence (AI) mHRME and evaluate its clinical impact and implementation potential in ethnically and socioeconomically diverse populations in the US and Brazil.

After definitive radiotherapy (RT) treatment (with or without chemotherapy), cervical and anal canal neoplasms frequently exhibit disease persistence or recurrence. Due to the local inflammatory process post-treatment, response assessment by imaging (current gold standard) is limited, often necessitating multiple follow-ups and repeated invasive biopsies. Conventional follow-up is complex and costly, requiring equipment from secondary and tertiary services, trained radiologists, and patient exposure to radiation and contrast.
In this context of human papillomavirus(HPV)-related neoplasms, recent studies have demonstrated the role of ctDNA (circulating tumor DNA) in assessing the risk of recurrence or disease progression, providing a rationale for using the tool in two fronts:
* Optimizing follow-up based on serial monitoring of ctDNA;
* Selecting patients with positive ctDNA after RT, who are at high risk of recurrence, for treatment intensification.
Monitoring with ctDNA as a standalone follow-up tool in cases evolving with negative ctDNA after RT has the potential to replace imaging exams, being a minimally invasive test performed on a peripheral blood sample. Currently, ctDNA testing has expensive methodologies not available in the Unified Health System (SUS). This project aims to develop a methodology for ctDNA evaluation focused on HPV ctDNA research that is low-cost and executable in SUS, as well to assess the accuracy of this test in the population with HPV-related tumors.
Additionally, we will evaluate whether the early introduction of immunotherapy in patients with positive ctDNA after definitive treatment can increase cure rates. Immunotherapy already has a well-defined role in the treatment of metastatic HPV-related neoplasms. Recently, the use of anti-programmed death-1 (anti-PD1) has also shown benefits in patients with locally advanced cervical cancer with a high risk of recurrence who are candidates for chemoradiotherapy (CRT). Therefore, its use focused on HPV-related tumors, as well as a better understanding of which patients benefit from this strategy, warrants further investigation.