Neoplasms

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Nervous System Diseases

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Pain

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Gastrointestinal Neoplasms

Digestive System Neoplasms

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Gastrointestinal Diseases

Pancreatic Diseases

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Pancreatic Cancer

This arm provides active 1Hz repetitive TMS (rTMS) applied to SII

This arm provides sham 1Hz repetitive TMS (rTMS) applied to SII

1Hz repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation for 10 days 26 minutes each day

Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation

Felipe Fregni, MD, PhD

This is a phase II study that aims to investigate prospectively a new therapy for a cohort of patients with chronic pain attributed to pancreatic cancer. The justification of this study is that the pain is the most important factor for the quality of life of these patients and rTMS has been shown to be significantly associated with pain improvement in patients with abdominal pain due to chronic pancreatitis. This therapeutic trial will be a 10-day, randomized, parallel-group design, double-blind, incomplete cross-over, placebo controlled clinical trial conducted at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. The principal aim of this investigation is the study of pain after a therapeutic intervention. The primary outcome is pain reduction indexed by pain reduction and or analgesic intake reduction. The second aim of the study is to assess the safety this new treatment in patients with pancreatic cancer. The third aim of this study is to investigate whether rTMS treatment is associated with a change in the activity of right secondary somatosensory cortex using magnetic resonance spectroscopy. Because patients with locally advanced or advanced pancreatic cancer often require increasing doses of narcotic pain medications, such as morphine, oxycodone and fentanyl, in order to control their pain, adverse side effects are frequent observed in this population of patients. Therefore rTMS treatment might represent a new therapeutic approach that might be useful not only for pancreatic cancer but also to other types of cancer.

The primary aim of this protocol is to investigate a possible novel treatment for visceral pain in patients with locally advanced or advanced pancreatic cancer. Pain is a major contributor to the poor quality of life in patients with pancreatic cancer. Most patients with locally advanced or advanced pancreatic cancer have abdominal pain that requires treatment with increasing doses of narcotic pain medication. The refractory nature of pancreatic cancer pain to pharmacologic therapy led us to hypothesize that one mechanism leading to pain in these patients is dysfunction of brain cortical regulation of visceral sensation. This notion is supported by the finding that deep electrical stimulation of the brain can produce pain relief in patients with intractable pain due to progressive cancers of various types. In addition, patients with pancreatitis, a non-malignant pancreatic condition causing chronic pain, can continue to experience disabling pain even after total pancreatectomy. These finding suggests that pain symptoms in pancreatic cancer can be sustained by a pancreas-independent, neural-based mechanisms in the brain.

Visceral sensation is processed in the secondary somatosensory area (SII). Therefore, pancreatic cancer pain may be sustained by dysfunction of SII rather than by local effects of the cancer alone. We hypothesize further, that dysfunction of SII is one of hyper-excitability. According to this hypothesis, suppression of SII activity may help control the pain in patients with pancreatic cancer and may provide synergy with pharmacologic treatment.

Temporary inhibition of SII activity can be obtained by a novel, non-invasive procedure called transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS). TMS can suppress brain excitability beyond the duration of the direct application of TMS if appropriate stimulation parameters are utilized. This hypothesis is supported by a sham controlled, double blind pilot trial of 5 subjects with idiopathic chronic pancreatitis: active rTMS applied to SII resulted in significant pain improvement in three of the subjects while sham did not provide any benefit in any of these patients. Furthermore, recent evidence suggests that stimulation of other brain areas, such as the dorsolateral pre-frontal cortex, can modulate acute, experimentally invoked pain (Graff-Guerrero et al 2005).

We will rigorously test the hypothesis that pain due to pancreatic cancer is sustained by dysfunction of SII characterized by hyperexcitability through two specific aims:

1. The first aim of this study is to examine whether 1Hz repetitive TMS (rTMS) applied to SII for ten days during two consecutive weeks in patients with abdominal pain due to pancreatic cancer has an analgesic effect.

   1. The primary outcome for this aim is the difference in pain score level on the Visual Analogue Scale at Day 11 and at Day 28 compared to the week before rTMS. The null hypothesis is that there is no difference in pain score between pre and post-treatment.
   2. The secondary outcome for this aim is to assess the difference in the use of narcotics for pain control on Day 11 and Day 28 compared to Day 1. The null hypothesis is that there is no difference in narcotic use (in IV morphine equivalency units) between pre and post-treatment.
2. The second aim of the study is to assess the safety of rTMS in patients with pancreatic cancer.
3. The third aim of this study is to investigate whether rTMS treatment is associated with a change in the activity of right SII using magnetic resonance spectroscopy. Therefore we will compare the levels of these substances between the two different time points (baseline and post-treatment) and between left and right SII. We expect a decrease in the excitatory neurotransmitters levels (Glutamine - Glx) in the stimulated area as a result of the inhibitory rTMS.

SAFETY In a pilot study of chronic pancreatitis patients, no subject experienced adverse effects from a single session of rTMS. Subjects in an ongoing study of a 10-day course or rTMS in chronic pancreatitis patients also have not experienced adverse events (10 patients thus far). Fifteen-day courses of rTMS have been used for the treatment of various neuropsychiatric diseases without any complications if safety guidelines are carefully followed. We will adhere to the current safety recommendations for rTMS endorsed by the International Society for Transcranial Stimulation and the International Federation for Clinical Neurophysiology. Therefore, we hypothesize that the proposed rTMS protocol will be safe for our patient population.

TMS for the Treatment of Pancreatic Cancer Pain

The Effect of a 10-day Course of Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation on Abdominal Pain in Patients With Locally Advanced and Advanced Pancreatic Cancer, a Randomized Phase II Study.

National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK)

Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center

Principal Investigator

Ear, Nose, and Throat Diseases

Diseases and Abnormalities at or Before Birth

Skin and Connective Tissue Diseases

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Neurofibromatosis 1

Neurofibroma

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Penetrating auditory brainstem implant

This is a study to gather some information on the safety and efficacy of the penetrating auditory brainstem implant (PABI) in patients with neurofibromatosis type 2.

Neurofibromatosis Type 2 (NF2) is characterized by multiple tumors of the cranial and spinal nerves, and, in particular, by bilateral acoustic tumors. Surgical resection of these tumors generally results in the transection of the VIIIth nerve, destruction of the cochlea and auditory nerve, and total hearing loss. Due to the loss of the auditory nerve, these patients are not candidates for cochlear implantation. The Auditory Brainstem Implant (ABI) provides the only available intervention to restore some auditory sensation to these patients. An ABI is an implantable prosthesis that produces sound sensation by electrical stimulation of the ascending auditory pathway at the level of the cochlear nucleus.

The PABI may be placed surgically during tumor resection. Efficacy will be assessed using psychophysical and standard speech reception measures.

An Implant for Hearing Loss Due to Removal of Neurofibromatosis 2 Tumors

Penetrating Auditory Brainstem Implant for Neurofibromatosis 2

FDA Office of Orphan Products Development

Study title	NCT ID	Conditions	Interventions	Eligibility	Organization
TMS for the Treatment of Pancreatic Cancer Pain	NCT00324428	Pain Visceral Pain Pancreatic Canc...	Transcranial Ma...	18 Years - 65 Years	Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center
An Implant for Hearing Loss Due to Removal of Neurofibromatosis 2 Tumors	NCT00030043	Neurofibromatos...	Penetrating aud...	18 Years -	FDA Office of Orphan Products Development
An Implant for Hearing Loss Due to Removal of Neurofibromatosis 2 Tumors	NCT00030043	Neurofibromatos...	Penetrating aud...	18 Years -	FDA Office of Orphan Products Development

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