Clinical trials

The LOLIPOP Trial is a large (n=4,300 patients) pragmatic, international, multicentre, prospective, randomised, double blind, placebo-controlled, parallel assessment, safety and effectiveness superiority study.

STX-1150 is an investigational therapy designed to lower LDL-C by silencing a gene called PCSK9 in the liver. STX-1150 does not edit or permanently change the gene. STX-1150 comprises an mRNA and guide RNA (gRNA) delivered via lipid nanoparticles (LNP) for intravenous infusion. The mRNA produces a protein that switches off the PCSK9 gene expression without altering the DNA sequence. This process leverages natural mechanisms that regulate gene activity. The study will enroll up to 64 participants with elevated LDL-C across sites in Australia and New Zealand. The follow-up period will be up to 1- year post-treatment.

The goal of this clinical trial is to learn whether avoiding a pulmonary artery catheter (PAC), a type of invasive monitoring tool, is no worse than using one in adults undergoing open heart surgery. The main questions it will answer are: 1. Does avoiding routine PAC use lead to recovery that is no worse than routine PAC use, measured by days alive and at home during the first 30 days after surgery? 2. How do the 2 strategies compare for kidney injury, major complications, survival, disability-free survival, quality of life, and healthcare use? Researchers will compare routine PAC use with no routine PAC use (using a standard central venous catheter instead) to see whether patients recover as well without a PAC. Participants will: Be randomly assigned to have either a PAC or no PAC at the start of their surgery Receive usual care from their treating team Be followed up at about 30 days and 180 days after surgery, mainly by telephone and review of medical records No extra in-person study visits or additional tests are required as part of this trial.

Our specific aims are to investigate whether conservative (≤30%), intermediate (50%), or liberal (80%) inspired oxygen during and immediately after surgery: Aim 1: Reduces surgical site infections (SSIs or "wound infections") and other healthcare-associated infections (pneumonia and sepsis). Aim 2: Reduces a pooled composite of serious postoperative complications, leading to a faster and more complete recovery after surgery, and thus increases "days alive and at home up to 30 days after surgery" (DAH30). Primary hypothesis: Liberal (80%) oxygen concentration delivered with anesthesia in patients undergoing major surgery reduces the incidence of SSIs after surgery compared to conservative (≤30%) or intermediate (50%) oxygen concentration. Secondary hypothesis: Hyperoxia (50-80%) delivered with anesthesia in patients undergoing major surgery increases the incidence of pulmonary and other complications after surgery compared to conservative (≤30%) oxygen concentration, resulting in fewer Days At Home (DAH). PROMPT enrolls patients undergoing elective or semi-elective surgery.

How syphilis is transmitted between sexual partners is unclear. Asymptomatic detection i.e. detection of syphilis bacteria (Tp) from anatomical sites without lesions, in patients with syphilis infection, suggests that asymptomatic transmission from these sites may play a role. However, no existing studies have established whether the syphilis bacteria (Tp) detected was viable. This means it is not known if the bacteria at this anatomical site is alive and therefore able to transmit the infection. Further, studies have focused mostly on men who have sex with men, resulting in a lack of evidence regarding anal shedding in men-who-have-sex-with-women only and women (regardless of sexual behaviour), and no data on asymptomatic vaginal shedding in women. This study will explore: 1. Patterns of Tp detection in women and men-who-have-sex-with-women only. 2. Whether detected Tp from each asymptomatic anatomical sites is viable 3. Duration of Tp detection and viability (alive and transmissible bacteria). Patients presenting to a participating sexual health service (overseas only) for management of suspected/confirmed early infectious syphilis will be eligible. During the routine clinical examination, participants will have additional oral and anal swabs, urine, vaginal swab (where relevant), penile skin swab (where relevant) and blood sample collected, in addition to the routine samples taken from the same sites and routine serology collected when syphilis is diagnosed.

This multicentre, adaptive, pragmatic, double-blind, three-arm, placebo-controlled, randomised, non-inferiority clinical trial will compare the incidence of surgical site infection and other healthcare associated infections, health economic and microbiological impact after intraoperative only (Arm A), to 24 hours (Arm B) and, to 48 hours (Arm C) of IV cefazolin and placebo postoperative surgical antimicrobial prophylaxis in patients undergoing cardiac surgery

The goal of this prospective cohort study is to investigate the contribution of stigma and discrimination due to body size to adverse pregnancy outcomes. We also aim to explore the role of psychological and social factors in this relationship. The specific objectives of this study are: Objective 1: Explore weight stigma as a mediator of the association between BMI ≥30 kg/m2 and adverse pregnancy outcomes. Objective 2: Explore confounding factors not previously considered such as weight cycling, trauma, eating disorders, and internalised weight bias as mediators in the relationship between obesity and adverse pregnancy outcomes.

This study is being conducted to find out how safe and effective different strategies of infection prevention are in comparison to each other, for preventing infection in patients with blood cancers. The best way to find out this information is to directly compare the effect of different treatment strategies in patients with blood cancers. We want to know how these different treatments impact on your health and your use of healthcare services. This research project uses an Adaptive Platform Design. This design allows the researchers to compare multiple infection prevention strategies within the same trial at the same time (rather than running separate trials), to analyse results as the trial occurs and to add new research questions during the course of the trial. The treatments that you may receive as part of the study will be determined by which domain(s) of the platform you participate in. By combining data collected within each domain as part of the platform, the researchers can investigate and compare treatment strategies and infection outcomes across a broader range of participants.

This study is being conducted to find out how safe and effective different strategies of infection prevention are in comparison to each other, for preventing infection in patients with blood cancers. The best way to find out this information is to directly compare the effect of different treatment strategies in patients with blood cancers. We want to know how these different treatments impact on your health and your use of healthcare services. This research project uses an Adaptive Platform Design. This design allows the researchers to compare multiple infection prevention strategies within the same trial at the same time (rather than running separate trials), to analyse results as the trial occurs and to add new research questions during the course of the trial. The treatments that you may receive as part of the study will be determined by which domain(s) of the platform you participate in. By combining data collected within each domain as part of the platform, the researchers can investigate and compare treatment strategies and infection outcomes across a broader range of participants.

This study is being conducted to find out how safe and effective different strategies of infection prevention are in comparison to each other, for preventing infection in patients with blood cancers. The best way to find out this information is to directly compare the effect of different treatment strategies in patients with blood cancers. We want to know how these different treatments impact on your health and your use of healthcare services. This research project uses an Adaptive Platform Design. This design allows the researchers to compare multiple infection prevention strategies within the same trial at the same time (rather than running separate trials), to analyse results as the trial occurs and to add new research questions during the course of the trial. The treatments that you may receive as part of the study will be determined by which domain(s) of the platform you participate in. By combining data collected within each domain as part of the platform, the researchers can investigate and compare treatment strategies and infection outcomes across a broader range of participants.

This is an adaptive platform study to find out how safe and effective different strategies are in comparison to each other, for preventing infection in patients with blood cancers. It is a comparison between Immunoglobulin and antibiotics use.

This study is a prospective observational study evaluating the natural history of coronary plaque burden in participants with melanoma treated with ICI. The study will be conducted at various sites across Australia.

This study is a three-arm, parallel-group, randomised controlled trial evaluating the effect of using cardiac CT imaging or polygenic risk score in cardiovascular risk factor modification in patients with diabetes.

Fetal growth restriction (FGR) is a significant health care issue, affecting 20,000 Australian pregnancies every year. Undetected FGR is one of the key risk factors for stillbirth, but FGR can also cause significant impairments in short and long-term health outcomes for the child. It is a major risk factor for preterm birth and is a recognised causal pathway to the neurodevelopmental injury underlying cognitive and behavioural impairment and cerebral palsy. Current obstetric care is focused on the detection of the growth restricted fetus and then ultrasound assessment of fetal wellbeing to guide timing of delivery. This approach seeks to maximize the gestational age of the fetus at delivery to minimise the risks of prematurity, while delivering the fetus in time to reduce the likelihood of stillbirth. Currently, no therapies exist that can maximize fetal wellbeing in the setting of growth restriction and minimise the frequency of antenatally acquired brain injury due to in-utero hypoxia. This triple-blind, randomized, parallel group, placebo-controlled trial will administer maternal melatonin or placebo supplementation antenatally in the setting of early-onset severe FGR to determine whether melatonin can PROTECT the fetal brain and lead to improved neurodevelopmental outcomes.

This cohort study aims to determine if a blood test can aid with diagnosing dementia in anyone presenting with cognitive complaints to a single healthcare network. The investigators will measure levels of a brain protein, Neurofilament light chain (Nfl), and assess changes in language using speech tests. Participants will have a single blood test and speech test, and will be followed up at 12-months to complete questionnaires and cognitive scales over the phone. The speech test will also be completed again at 12-months. Individuals at risk of a Fronto-temporal dementia syndrome will be eligible to complete optional genetic testing involving an 'at home' saliva sample.

Residential In-Reach (RIR) programs are designed to provide responsive care for residents in residential aged care homes (RACH) with the aim of avoiding unnecessary hospital transfers. The evidence for their clinical and cost-effectiveness and implementation has been established in urban settings, but there is a small amount of low-quality evidence for rural and regional settings. The Grampians Region Health Service Partnership Resi-In-Reach Redesign Committee will be implementing a new RIR program to be offered to all RACHs in the Grampians region, this project aims to evaluate the clinical and cost-effectiveness of this program, and its implementation in the rural and regional setting. A stepped-wedge trial will be conducted so that as the RIR program is gradually rolled-out across the region, outcomes can be compared in the same facilities across time and between different facilities. The primary outcome measure will be presentation to emergency departments and urgent care centres, and data will also be collected on other clinical outcomes and barriers and enablers of implementing the program. It is anticipated that there will be a reduction in hospital presentations, and a range of barriers and enablers unique to the rural and regional setting will emerge.

The purpose of this study is to improve outcome of breast cancer patients who develop brain metastases. This will investigate the benefits of early detection of brain metastases using brain imaging. In patients diagnosed and currently being treated for advanced or metastatic breast cancer, current guidelines do not recommend routine brain imaging. However, there is emerging evidence suggesting that patients diagnosed without symptoms of brain metastases may have a better outcome than those with symptoms such as headache, vomiting and weakness. In current practice, if signs and symptoms suggestive of brain metastases are to develop, then the doctor will arrange imaging of the brain, which may be a computerised tomography (CT scan) and/or a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan. Should brain metastasis be detected, local radiotherapy, chemotherapy or targeted treatments will be offered. When initially diagnosed with metastatic or advanced breast cancer, participant will or would have undergone a brain scan by either MRI or CT during normal standard full-body CT scan (chest, abdomen and pelvis) imaging. In this study, each time participants have a regular full-body CT scans to assess treatment progress, they will also have an additional CT scan of the brain. Participants will have a total of 12 extra brain scans, with scans taking place every three months for the first 2 years, and every 6 months for the following years. These scans will occur at the same location as your current treatment. There will be no extra costs involved in the study and participants will be in the study for 4 years and following their follow-up details will be collected from medical records. Some participants who develop brain metastases during the followup will have neurosurgery to remove these metastases. The investigators will collect either fresh or archived tissues and a cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) sample at the time of surgery from those patients. If the treating investigators do not think neurosurgery is an option, they will ask participants to have a lumbar puncture for the collection of CSF. The purpose of this optional CSF collection is to take a liquid biopsy to check for markers (or biomarkers) potentially expressed by the breast cancer tumour cells in the brain. Participants will also be asked to provide a blood sample as well as old tumour from breast surgery (other metastatic tumour tissue). The information obtained from this component of the study will not impact a parcipants current management, but it will help researchers to develop better treatments for breast cancer brain metastases in the future.

Persons with obesity are more likely to suffer from many other serious health conditions and are more likely to die young. Lifestyle interventions have not been found to be an effective long-term solution for treating obesity. When usual weight loss measures are not successful, bariatric, or 'weight loss,' surgery may be considered. Bariatric surgery is performed to help people with obesity achieve weight loss which they can maintain. Weight loss following bariatric surgery leads to improvement in health and well-being, and patients have been shown to live longer. It is invasive surgery which has surgical risks and potential side effects, including death. Since people are having this surgery to improve their health, it is important that the surgery is performed with a minimum of side effects, otherwise it cannot be justified. Information is collected about the surgery, any complications after the surgery, weight at various time points, and if the patient has diabetes and how it is is treated. Patient details are needed to be able to identify patients on the registry and track their progress through data linkages. Participants have information about their bariatric surgery provided to the registry by their surgeon or hospital. They may also be contacted directly by the registry staff to see if they had any complications and if the surgery had any effect on their health (if they have diabetes), weight, and well-being. The Registry will hold their identifiable information as it aims to follow each patient for ten years after their first bariatric operation. By systematically collecting information on every procedure performed in Australia and New Zealand, the registry will help to identify when surgeons, hospitals or procedures not performing to the expected standard. A Bariatric Surgery Registry should also be able to demonstrate how effectively bariatric surgery results in weight loss and improved health (using diabetes as a marker of health) across the two countries.

Lupus Low Disease Activity State (LLDAS) study is an international, multi-centre prospective study, developed by the Asia Pacific Lupus Collaboration (APLC) to investigate whether the attainment of LLDAS is associated with improved outcomes in patients with Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE). SLE, or lupus, is the archetypal multisystem autoimmune disease, with an estimated incidence of 5-50 cases per 100,000 people. Patients with SLE, usually young women, suffer a marked loss of life expectancy, and severe morbidity, due to a heterogeneous range of clinical manifestations caused by autoimmune-mediated inflammation of multiple organs. The most severe manifestations of SLE are the accrual of irreversible organ damage, especially renal and central nervous system (CNS) involvement. As there is no effective targeted monotherapy for SLE, patients also suffer severe toxicity from the use of glucocorticoids and broad-spectrum immunosuppressive therapies. Despite combination therapy with current drugs, many studies show that the majority of patients suffer inadequate disease control and inexorably accrue permanent organ damage over time. The diversity of clinical features of active SLE has made quantification of disease activity problematic. Although there are a number of published systems in use to measure SLE disease activity, there are widely acknowledged problems with these instruments. Published definitions of remission are so stringent that they are met by less than 5% of patients. This lead to the realisation that rather than lupus remission, a lupus low disease activity state target may be more feasible, and that patients with low disease activity are more homogeneous than patients with active disease. Thus, the development of a definition of lupus low disease activity, which is feasible and has face validity, escapes the complexity of attempts to quantify heterogeneous states of active disease. In this study, the investigators will prospectively collect longitudinal data on consecutive SLE patients at each centre to evaluate the LLDAS definition. Protection from organ damage accrual as the primary endpoint.

The aim of the study is to find out if patients with blood cancers receiving immunoglobulin (Ig) for the purpose of preventing infections can safety stop immunoglobulin after six months of therapy, and take oral antibiotics instead to prevent serious infections. Patients may be eligible to join this study if they are aged 18 years or above, have an acquired hypogammaglobulinaemia secondary to a haematological malignancy, and have been receiving intravenous or subcutaneous Ig for longer than 6 consecutive months. Participants will be randomised (allocated by chance) to one of three treatment groups, as follows: * Stop immunoglobulin (IVIg or SCIg) and be given oral antibiotics to take every day (ARM A) * Stop immunoglobulin (IVIg or SCIg) and be given oral antibiotics to keep at home to use as soon as symptoms of an infection develop (ARM B) * Continue receiving immunoglobulin (IVIg or SCIg) - this is the usual care group (ARM C) The duration of each treatment is for 12 months from study entry. Participants will be asked to attend a screening/baseline visit so that their treating clinician can assess their eligibility for the trial and collect baseline data. If eligible for the trial, participants will then be randomly allocated to one of the three treatment groups. Once randomised, active participation in the study will last for 13 months. During this period, participants will be asked to return to the hospital for a study visit every 3 months, with monthly telephone visits to check-in on your progress between each in-person visit. Participants will also be asked to complete a study diary, recording treatment compliance and signs/symptoms of infection experienced throughout the study period. Types of assessments and data collected will include: Medical history, demographics, physical examination, blood tests, stool sample, quality of life questionnaires, information about your general health, hospitalisations, medications and procedures. In order to assess and compare the cost-effectiveness of the treatment groups, the study team will also request authorisation from participants to access their Medicare Benefits Schedule (MBS), Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS), and Australian Immunisation Register (AIR) data.

Severe and un-stopped blood loss can occur for a number of different reasons including after a serious injury, delivery of a baby and following other medical and surgical emergencies. The investigators understanding of how to best treat people with serious bleeding is still incomplete, with many questions remaining. These include questions regarding how many people have serious bleeding events, what happens to them and the best way to treat them. The Massive Transfusion Registry (MTR) is a register of patients who have experienced major blood loss that required a massive transfusion in any clinical setting. The MTR uses electronic data extraction and data linkage methodologies. Pre-existing clinical data from hospital data sources, including Laboratory Information Systems (for transfusion history and laboratory results) and Health Information Services databases (for Patient demographics and admission data), are electronically extracted by staff employed at the participating hospitals. The data is then sent to the MTR Research Team, located at Monash University, where it is then linked, analysed and stored. The establishment of a Massive Transfusion Registry will be a unique and important resource for clinicians in Australia, New Zealand and internationally, for Blood Services and for the broader community. It will provide valuable observational data regarding the types and frequency of conditions associated with critical bleeding requiring massive transfusion, the use of blood component therapy (i.e. ratios and quantities of different types of red cell to non- red cell components) and patient outcomes.