Clinical trials

The OSADA (Obstructive Sleep Apnoea in Difficult Asthma) trial is an open-label, randomized control trial investigating the impact of diagnosing and treating obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) on a asthma control in patients with difficult-to-control asthma. Participants will undergo home-based sleep studies to assess for OSA and are then allocated to one of three arms: 1) Patients with OSA treated with CPAP (intervention group), 2) Patients with OSA not treated for OSA (control group) and 3) Patients without OSA (reference group). The primary objective is to evaluate whether treating OSA improves asthma control, symptom burden, and quality of life compared to untreated OSA and to patients without OSA. Secondary outcomes include exacerbation rates, sleep quality, and healthcare utilization. This trial aims to clarify the contribution of OSA to poor asthma control and the potential benefits of integrated sleep and respiratory care in this complex population.

The goal of this study is to establish whether use of a digital intervention can improve adherence and alignment with the Kidney Disease: Improving Global Outcomes (KDIGO) Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) 2024 Guidelines. A subset of the study will focus on whether the intervention improves outcomes for young adults living with CKD, in the context of the imminent co-location of Children's Health Ireland on the St. James's Hospital campus. Young adults with CKD transitioning to adult services are recognised as a high-risk and vulnerable cohort, with many individuals unaware of increased cardiovascular risk and mortality¹². In response, and in the context of the co-location of Children's Health Ireland on the St. James's Hospital site, a young adult nephrology clinic has been established. The KDIGO CKD 2024 Guidelines identify transition as a period of increased risk and include recommendations regarding cardiovascular risk factor targets and the use of therapies known to delay CKD progression³. Electronic communication is a preferred method for accessing health information among many young adults⁴⁵ and aligns with Sláintecare digital health strategies⁶. A recently established, award-winning St. James's Hospital renal smartphone application is currently used by over 3,000 individuals living with CKD. The study aims to determine whether use of the application improves adherence to KDIGO guideline recommendations, with the objective of delaying CKD progression and associated complications. The application will support optimisation of care by signposting opportunities for evidence-based interventions (e.g., SGLT2 inhibitors, renin-angiotensin system inhibition) to healthcare providers. The application will also provide participants with tailored recommendations, reminders, educational materials, and collection of patient-reported outcome measures. Due to the diverse population and range of specialties at St. James's Hospital, the young adult clinic serves distinct subgroups, including individuals with sickle cell anaemia and survivors of cancer and haematological malignancies. These populations will be examined in the context of KDIGO guideline implementation, contributing to a limited international evidence base. This research evaluates an intervention designed to improve care for adults living with chronic kidney disease.

The goal of this clinical trial is to see if adding a weight loss medication (GLP-1 receptor drug) to patients with an increased BMI receiving treatment for rectal cancer prior to surgery (total neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy) improves cancer outcomes. The main questions it aims to answer is 1. Does the drug increase weight loss in rectal cancer patients with a high BMI 2. Does the drug improve response rates to chemotherapy and radiotherapy 3. Does the drug improve survival outcomes and if cancer returns Researchers will compare this drug in one group against a group of patients receiving preoperative total neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy without the drug Patients will be required to 1\) take the GLP-1 receptor agonist drug during TNT or just having TNT alone as per standard hospital protocols Body weight will be measured at three predefined time points: 1. Baseline: Prior to initiation of semaglutide or TNT 2. Pre-TNT: Start of TNT (for the intervention arm, this is 4 weeks after semaglutide initiation) 3. Post-TNT: Within 7 days following completion of TNT and prior to definitive surgery Patients will complete their treatment and go on to have surgery as per standard methods for treating rectal cancer

Targeted therapies offer promise to improve oncologic outcomes in esophagogastric adenocarcinoma (EGA). The landmark 'Trastuzumab for gastric cancer (ToGA)' trial established the therapeutic value of Human Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor 2 (HER2) directed therapy in advanced gastric and esophagogastric junction adenocarcinoma, setting a standard of care. Further studies, such as DESTINY-gastric01 and DESTINY-gastric02, have demonstrated the efficacy of antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) targeting HER2-positive gastric and junctional tumours. The use of HER2-directed therapies in the curative intent setting has more recently been evaluated with favourable outcomes in phase II studies. However, data regarding the prevalence and prognostic significance of HER2 overexpression among patients undergoing treatment with curative intent are limited. Furthermore, few studies have evaluated the clinical significance of intratumoural and tumour-metastatic heterogeneity of HER2 expression, and the finding of HER2-low, in this context, which may have important implications for implementation of neoadjuvant targeted therapies in future. While limited single centre series have evaluated the clinicopathologic significance of HER2 status in EGA, no previous international multicentre study of this nature has been reported. The goal of this international, multi-center, retrospective observational study is to elucidate the prevalence and clinical significance of HER2 expression in patients with EGA across different regions globally. The study also aims to assess the clinical significance of HER2 heterogeneity in a large, international cohort of patients with EGA, and its association with clinicopathological outcomes in patients with advanced and recurrent disease.

This will be a prospective single-blind randomised controlled trial to evaluate if the use of a medical device named Purabond, a haemostatic agent already CE marked for use in Ireland, can reduce the occurrence of seroma, a complication related to but distinct from haematoma, following neck dissection surgery. Patients undergoing neck dissection surgery will be randomised either to standard post-operative care following neck dissection or to standard post-operative care and Purabond. Drains are placed routinely following surgery of this type and their removal is dictated by the volume of fluid produced per day - it is hypothesised that Purabond will reduce the volume of fluid produced and thereby facilitate earlier drain removal.

The gold standard treatment for locally advanced, non-metastatic rectal cancer includes neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy (NACRT), total mesorectal excision (TME) and adjuvant chemotherapy (AC). The primary goal of treatment is to achieve local disease control, reduce tumour volume and minimise the risk of distant metastases. While this multimodal treatment approach has offered improvements in local control and sphincter preservation, it has had little effect on distant recurrence and overall survival. We aim to compare NACRT and TME using the following endpoints: Primary --\>To compare the effects neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy versus total neoadjuvant therapy (TNT) for T3 rectal cancer on overall survival. Secondary --\> To compare the effects neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy (NARCT) and total neoadjuvant therapy (TNT) for cT3 rectal cancer on clinical outcomes: * Clinical complete response (cCR) * Pathological complete response (pCR) * Disease-free survival (DFS) * Organ preservation * Overall morbidity / mortality * Treatment-related morbidity / mortality * Peri-operative outcomes