View clinical trials related to Carcinoma.
Filter by:RATIONALE: Radiation therapy uses high-energy x-rays to damage tumor cells. Drugs used in chemotherapy use different ways to stop tumor cells from dividing so they stop growing or die. Chemoprotective drugs, such as amifostine, may protect normal cells from the side effects of radiation therapy and chemotherapy. PURPOSE: Phase I/II trial to study the effectiveness of radiation therapy plus combination chemotherapy and amifostine in treating patients who have stage II, stage III, or stage IV head and neck cancer that cannot be surgically removed.
RATIONALE: Drugs used in chemotherapy use different ways to stop tumor cells from dividing so they stop growing or die. Combining more than one drug may kill more tumor cells. PURPOSE: Phase II trial to study the effectiveness of combining cyclophosphamide, methotrexate, and fluorouracil in treating patients with Merkel cell cancer.
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 compare the effectiveness of octreotide alone or with prednisone in treating patients with metastatic or recurrent thymoma.
Phase I trial to study the effectiveness of paclitaxel, cisplatin, and topotecan with or without filgrastim in treating patients who have newly diagnosed stage III or stage IV epithelial ovarian cancer. Drugs used in chemotherapy use different ways to stop tumor cells from dividing so they stop growing or die. Colony-stimulating factors such as filgrastim may increase the number of immune cells found in bone marrow or peripheral blood and may help a person's immune system recover from the side effects of chemotherapy
RATIONALE: Radiation therapy uses high-energy x-rays to damage tumor cells. Drugs used in chemotherapy use different ways to stop tumor cells from dividing so they stop growing or die. It is not yet known whether combining mitomycin or porfiromycin with radiation therapy is more effective in treating patients with head and neck cancer. PURPOSE: Randomized phase III trial to compare the effectiveness of radiation therapy plus either mitomycin or porfiromycin in treating patients with head and neck cancer.
The goal of this study is to learn how tumors of the upper airway and digestive passages (tongue, throat, mouth, and voicebox) affect the body's immune defenses and energy storage. Previous studies have shown that tumors of the vocal tract produce signals that could help the tumor escape the body's immune defenses and use the body's energy and mineral stores to grow. Researchers are hoping to learn more about what signals give tumor cells an advantage to live and grow, how tumor cells control these signals, and how these signals affect the rest of the body. This study will look closer at researchers belief that tumors in the vocal tract contain genes (genetic information) that abnormally function to allow the tumors to survive and grow against the attack of the body's normal immune system Patients with cancerous tumors (squamous cell carcinoma) and benign (non-cancerous) tumors (papilloma) of the upper aerodigestive tract who are candidates for standard or investigational therapy are eligible to participate in this study. Tumor cells will be collected from patients participating in the study, who will undergo standard surgical treatment or biopsies for their conditions. Once tumor cells are collected they can be analyzed for their genetic make-up. In addition, patients will undergo several tests using skin, blood, and urine to look closely at the function of their immune systems and metabolism.
Two days prior to planned surgery, paclitaxel is infused IV over 24 hours. Patients will undergo cytoreductive surgery, to debulk tumor. Scope of procedure will vary with each patient, including a spectrum of possible procedures, such as splenectomy, liver resection, pancreatic resection or bowel resection. After cytoreductive surgery, continuous hyperthermic peritoneal perfusion (CHPP) surgery with cisplatin will begin by placing an influx and efflux catheters via abdominal wall. Perfusion rate of cisplatin is 1.5 L/min and the duration is 90 min. Postoperative intraperitoneal chemotherapy will begin 24 hours after CHPP surgery. Dose escalation will proceed after patients at a given dose level receive 3 courses. In order to properly evaluate hematoxicity, a minimum of 3 weeks will be required before dose escalation. MTD is either the dose level immediately below the level at which 2 of 6 patients in a cohort experience nonhematologic dose limiting toxicity (DLT) or when 4 of 6 patients experience hematologic DLT. Two to 4 months after surgery, laparotomy will be conducted to determine response to treatment. If tumor size is decreased, patients will undergo a second treatment course identical to the same techniques and chemotherapy agents.
Patients with superficial transitional cell carcinoma of the bladder will be treated with intravesical suramin in a phase I dose escalating study. The toxicity of suramin administered in this fashion will be evaluated.
Patients who have no response to preoperative chemotherapy and no residual disease following surgery on Regimen A are treated on Regimen B postoperatively. The following acronyms are used: DDD Mitotane, NSC-38721 DOX Doxorubicin, NSC-123127 VCR Vincristine, NSC-67574 VP-16 Etoposide, NSC-141540 Regimen A: 4-Drug Combination Chemotherapy followed by Surgery followed by 4-Drug Combination Chemotherapy. DDD/DOX/VCR/VP-16; followed by surgical debulking; followed by DDD/DOX/VCR/VP-16. Regimen B: Single-Agent Chemotherapy. DDD.