41 Clinical Trials for Various Conditions
This clinical trial tests the safety and effectiveness of hypofractionated stereotactic radiosurgery for treating patients who have undergone surgical resection for grade II meningiomas or grade I meningiomas that have come back after a period of improvement (recurrent). Radiation therapy uses high energy x-rays, particles, or radioactive seeds to kill tumor cells and shrink tumors. Stereotactic radiosurgery is a type of external radiation therapy that uses special equipment to position a patient and precisely deliver radiation to tumors in the body. Hypofractionated radiation therapy delivers higher doses of radiation therapy over a shorter period of time and may kill more tumor cells and have fewer side effects. Hypofractionated stereotactic radiosurgery may be safe, tolerable, and effective in treating patients with grade II or recurrent grade I meningiomas after surgical resection.
RATIONALE: Interferon alfa may interfere with the growth of cancer cells. PURPOSE: Phase II trial to study the effectiveness of interferon alfa in treating patients with recurrent unresectable meningiomas and malignant meningiomas.
This pilot clinical trial compares gadobutrol with standard of care contrast agents, gadopentetate dimeglumine or gadobenate dimeglumine, before dynamic contrast-enhanced (DCE)-magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in diagnosing patients with multiple sclerosis, grade II-IV glioma, or tumors that have spread to the brain. Gadobutrol is a type of contrast agent that may increase DCE-MRI sensitivity for the detection of tumors or other diseases of the central nervous system. It is not yet known whether gadobutrol is more effective than standard of care contrast agents before DCE-MRI in diagnosing patients with multiple sclerosis, grade II-IV glioma, or tumors that have spread to the brain.
The purpose of this research study is to determine the effects bevacizumab (the study drug) combined with Optune (the study device) tumor treatment field therapy has on meningiomas. Bevacizumab is considered investigational because the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has not approved its use for the treatment of meningiomas. The study drug is a medication that blocks the growth of new blood vessels. It is thought that the study drug may interfere with the growth of new blood vessels and therefore might stop tumor growth, and possibly shrink the tumor by keeping it from receiving nutrients and oxygen supplied by the blood vessels. Optune is also considered investigational because the US FDA has not approved its use for the treatment of meningiomas. Optune is a device that the patient will wear and use for at least 18 hours of each day. It delivers alternating electrical current to the patient's brain tumor and by doing so interrupts a process called mitosis. Mitosis needs to occur in order for cell division to occur and allows tumors to grow. By slowing this process, we hypothesize that meningioma growth may also be slowed.
Background: More than 130 primary tumors of the central nervous system (CNS) have been identified. Most affect less than 1,000 people in the United States each year. Because these tumors are so rare, there are few proven therapies. This study will test whether the immunotherapy drug nivolumab is an effective treatment for people with rare CNS tumors. Objectives: To learn if stimulating the immune system using the drug nivolumab can shrink tumors in people with rare CNS (brain or spine) tumors or increase the time it takes for these tumors to grow or spread. Eligibility: Adults whose rare CNS tumor has returned. Design: Individuals will be screened: * Heart and blood tests * Physical and neurological exam * Hepatitis tests * Pregnancy test * MRI. They will lay in a machine that takes pictures. * Tumor tissue sample. This can be from a previous procedure. At the start of the study, participants will have blood tests. They will answer questions about their symptoms and their quality of life. Individuals will get nivolumab in a vein every 2 weeks for up to 64 weeks. Individuals will have monthly blood tests. Every other month they will have an MRI and a neurologic function test. They will also answer questions about their quality of life. Genetic tests will be done on individuals' tumor tissue. Individuals will be contacted if any clinically important results are found. After treatment ends, individuals will be monitored for up to 5 years. They will have a series of MRIs and neurological function tests. They will be asked to report any symptoms they experience....
RATIONALE: Pioglitazone hydrochloride may be effective treatment for cognitive dysfunction caused by radiation therapy. PURPOSE: This phase I trial is studying the side effects and best dose of pioglitazone hydrochloride in preventing radiation-induced cognitive dysfunction in treating patients with brain tumors.
The purpose of this research study to determine if treating recurrent malignant gliomas with another person's (donor) immune system cells known as aCTL cells, will be safe. This study will also try to determine if persons who receive aCTL's are more or less likely to survive their brain tumor than persons who had similar tumors in the past. Approximately 15 patients will be enrolled at UCLA.
This phase I trial studies the side effects and best dose of gamma-secretase/Notch signalling pathway inhibitor RO4929097 (RO4929097) when given together with temozolomide and radiation therapy in treating patients with newly diagnosed malignant glioma. Enzyme inhibitors, such as gamma-secretase/Notch signalling pathway inhibitor RO4929097, may stop the growth of tumor cells by blocking some of the enzymes needed for cell growth. Drugs used in chemotherapy, such as temozolomide, work in different ways to stop the growth of tumor cells, either by killing the cells, by stopping them from dividing, or by stopping them from spreading. Radiation therapy uses high-energy x-rays to kill tumor cells. Giving gamma-secretase/Notch signalling pathway inhibitor RO4929097 together with temozolomide and radiation therapy may kill more tumor cells.
RATIONALE: Radiation therapy uses high-energy x-rays to damage tumor cells. PURPOSE: Phase I trial to study the effectiveness of stereotactic radiosurgery in treating patients who have brain tumors.
RATIONALE: Drugs used in chemotherapy use different ways to stop tumor cells from dividing so they stop growing or die. PURPOSE: Phase II trial to study the effectiveness of ifosfamide in treating patients with meningeal tumors that have recurred or that cannot be removed surgically.
The purpose of this study is to find out what effects, good and/or bad, sunitinib has on patients and their tumors. At this time, no drugs are routinely used to treat meningioma, hemangioblastoma or hemangiopericytoma. Only surgery and radiation therapy are known to be useful. Sunitinib is a drug approved for advanced kidney cancer. Sunitinib is also being studied for other tumors. It may be useful in the treatment of brain tumors because it can prevent formation of new blood vessels that allow tumor cells to survive and grow.
RATIONALE: Imatinib mesylate may interfere with the growth of tumor cells and may be an effective treatment for recurrent glioma and meningioma. PURPOSE: Phase I/II trial to study the effectiveness of imatinib mesylate in treating patients who have progressive, recurrent, or unresectable malignant glioma or meningioma.
Phase I/II trial to study the effectiveness of erlotinib in treating patients who have recurrent malignant glioma or recurrent or progressive meningioma. Erlotinib may stop the growth of tumor cells by blocking the enzymes necessary for tumor cell growth.
This clinical trial studies yoga therapy in treating patients with malignant brain tumors. Yoga therapy may improve the quality of life of patients with brain tumors
RATIONALE: Biological therapies, such as cellular adoptive immunotherapy, may stimulate the immune system in different ways and stop tumor cells from growing. Donor T cells that are treated in the laboratory may be effective treatment for malignant glioma. Aldesleukin may stimulate the white blood cells to kill tumor cells. Combining different types of biological therapies may kill more tumor cells. PURPOSE: This phase I trial is studying the side effects and best way to give therapeutic donor lymphocytes together with aldesleukin in treating patients with stage III or stage IV malignant glioma.
RATIONALE: Dasatinib may stop the growth of tumor cells by blocking some of the enzymes needed for cell growth. Drugs in chemotherapy, such as ifosfamide, carboplatin, and etoposide, work in different ways to stop the growth of tumor cells, either by killing the cells or by stopping them from dividing. Giving dasatinib together with ifosfamide, carboplatin, and etoposide may kill more tumor cells. PURPOSE: This phase I/II trial is studying the side effects and best dose of dasatinib when given together with ifosfamide, carboplatin, and etoposide and to see how well they work in treating young patients with metastatic or recurrent malignant solid tumors.
RATIONALE: Learning whether temozolomide changes semen or sperm in patients with brain tumors may help doctors learn about the long-term effects of treatment and plan the best treatment. PURPOSE: This clinical trial is studying changes in semen or sperm caused by temozolomide in patients with newly diagnosed, progressive, or recurrent primary malignant brain tumors.
Bevacizumab may reduce CNS side effects caused by radiation therapy. This randomized phase II trial is studying how well bevacizumab works in reducing CNS side effects in patients who have undergone radiation therapy to the brain for primary brain tumor, meningioma, or head and neck cancer.
RATIONALE: Yoga, meditation, and breathing exercises may help lower stress and improve quality of life in patients with malignant brain tumors and their family caregivers. PURPOSE: This clinical trial is studying how well a stress reduction program works to improve the quality of life of patients with malignant brain tumors and their family caregivers.
RATIONALE: Vatalanib may stop the growth of tumor cells by blocking blood flow to the tumor and by blocking some of the enzymes needed for cell growth. PURPOSE: This phase II trial is studying how well vatalanib works in treating patients with recurrent or progressive meningioma.
RATIONALE: Peripheral stem cell transplantation may be able to replace immune cells that were destroyed by chemotherapy used to kill tumor cells. Drugs used in chemotherapy use different ways to stop tumor cells from dividing so they stop growing or die. Combining chemotherapy with peripheral stem cell transplantation may allow the doctor to give higher doses of chemotherapy drugs and kill more tumor cells. PURPOSE: This phase I trial is studying the side effects and best dose of cyclophosphamide when given together with combination chemotherapy and a peripheral stem cell transplant in treating patients with malignant solid tumors.
RATIONALE: Drugs used in chemotherapy use different ways to stop tumor cells from dividing so they stop growing or die. Radiation therapy uses high-energy x-rays to damage tumor cells. Chemotherapy combined with radiation therapy may kill more tumor cells. PURPOSE: Phase II trial to study the effectiveness of temozolomide followed by radiation therapy in treating children who have newly diagnosed malignant central nervous system tumors.
This phase I trial studies how well zirconium (Zr)-89 crefmirlimab berdoxam and immuno-positron emission tomography (PET) identifies areas of immune cell activity in patients with brain tumors that can be removed by surgery (resectable). One important predictor of the immune response is the presence and change in CD8 positive (+) tumor infiltrating lymphocytes (TIL) cells. Identifying the presence and changes in CD8+ cells can be challenging, particularly for participants with central nervous system (CNS) tumors, and usually requires invasive procedures such as repeat tissue biopsies, which may not accurately represent the immune status of the entire tumor. Zr-89 crefmirlimab berdoxam is known as a radioimmunoconjugate which consists of a radiolabeled anti-CD8+ minibody whose uptake can be imaged with PET. Upon administration, Zr 89 crefmirlimab berdoxam specifically targets and binds to the CD8+ cells. This enables PET imaging and may detect CD8+ T-cell distribution and activity and may help determine the patient's response to cancer immunotherapeutic agents more accurately. Giving Zr-89 crefmirlimab berdoxam along with undergoing immuno-PET imaging may work better at identifying immune cell activity in patients with resectable brain tumors.
This phase II trial tests the effect of decreasing (tapering) doses of dexamethasone on steroid side effects in patients after surgery to remove (craniotomy) a brain tumor. Steroids are the gold standard post-surgery treatment to reduce swelling (edema) at the surgical site to reduce neurological symptoms. Although, corticosteroids reduce edema, they have side effects including high blood sugar, high blood pressure, and can impair wound healing. Dexamethasone is in a class of medications called corticosteroids. It is used to reduce inflammation and lower the body's immune response. It also works to treat other conditions by reducing swelling and redness. Tapering doses dexamethasone may decrease steroid side effects without increasing the risk of edema in patients with brain tumors after a craniotomy.
This study will evaluate the safety and efficacy of Lutathera (177Lu-DOTATATE) in patients with progressive or recurrent High-Grade Central Nervous System (CNS) tumors and meningiomas that demonstrate uptake on DOTATATE PET. The drug will be given intravenously once every 8 weeks for a total of up to 4 doses over 8 months in patients aged 4 to \<12 years (Phase I) or 12 to \</=39 years (Phase II) to test its safety and efficacy, respectively. Funding Source - FDA OOPD (grant number FD-R-0532-01)
Approximately 90% of children with malignant brain tumors that have recurred or relapsed after receiving conventional therapy will die of disease. Despite this terrible and frustrating outcome, continued treatment of this population remains fundamental to improving cure rates. Studying this relapsed population will help unearth clues to why conventional therapy fails and how cancers continue to resist modern advances. Moreover, improvements in the treatment of this relapsed population will lead to improvements in upfront therapy and reduce the chance of relapse for all. Novel therapy and, more importantly, novel approaches are sorely needed. This trial proposes a new approach that evaluates rational combination therapies of novel agents based on tumor type and molecular characteristics of these diseases. The investigators hypothesize that the use of two predictably active drugs (a doublet) will increase the chance of clinical efficacy. The purpose of this trial is to perform a limited dose escalation study of multiple doublets to evaluate the safety and tolerability of these combinations followed by a small expansion cohort to detect preliminary efficacy. In addition, a more extensive and robust molecular analysis of all the participant samples will be performed as part of the trial such that we can refine the molecular classification and better inform on potential response to therapy. In this manner the tolerability of combinations can be evaluated on a small but relevant population and the chance of detecting antitumor activity is potentially increased. Furthermore, the goal of the complementary molecular characterization will be to eventually match the therapy with better predictive biomarkers. PRIMARY OBJECTIVES: * To determine the safety and tolerability and estimate the maximum tolerated dose/recommended phase 2 dose (MTD/RP2D) of combination treatment by stratum. * To characterize the pharmacokinetics of combination treatment by stratum. SECONDARY OBJECTIVE: * To estimate the rate and duration of objective response and progression free survival (PFS) by stratum.
The purpose of this study is to test the feasibility (ability to be done) of experimental technologies to determine a tumor's molecular makeup. This technology includes a genomic report based on DNA exomes and RNA sequencing that will be used to discover new ways to understand cancers and potentially predict the best treatments for patients with cancer in the future.
This phase I trial is studying the side effects and best dose of vorinostat when given together with bortezomib in treating young patients with refractory or recurrent solid tumors, including CNS tumors and lymphoma. Vorinostat and bortezomib may stop the growth of tumor cells by blocking some of the enzymes needed for cell growth and by blocking blood flow to the tumor.
This study will be aimed at investigating the effectiveness of a treatment for brain tumors called Photodynamic Therapy, or PDT. Briefly, a subject will receive a light-sensitive drug, called Photofrin®, the day before a tumor removal surgery. The next day, after the tumor is removed, red light from a laser will be shone into the tumor cavity through a light-diffusing sphere. This light will activate the photosensitizer, and possibly kill any tumor cells that may be left. We plan to measure how long the subject may go without a new tumor regrowth, and overall how long subjects survive. We will compare these results to typical results to see if we are seeing any improvements. Objective: To define the antitumor activity of Photofrin® and laser light activation within the confines of a Phase II study.
RATIONALE: PTC299 may stop the growth of tumor cells by blocking blood flow to the tumor. PURPOSE: This phase I trial is studying the side effects and the best dose of PTC299 in treating young patients with recurrent or refractory primary central nervous system tumors.