View clinical trials related to Lung Cancer.
Filter by:Background: - Certain types of lung, esophageal, or thymic cancers and mesotheliomas have specific antigens (protein molecules) on their surfaces. Research studies have shown that giving a vaccine that contains antigens similar to these may cause an immune response, which may keep tumors from growing. Researchers are also interested in determining whether the chemotherapy drug cyclophosphamide and the anti-inflammatory drug celecoxib may help the vaccine work better, particularly in patients with lung cancer. Objectives: - To evaluate the safety and effectiveness of tumor cell vaccines in combination with cyclophosphamide and celecoxib in patients with cancers involving the chest. Eligibility: - Individuals at least 18 years of age who have had surgery for small cell or non-small cell lung cancer, esophageal cancer, thymoma or thymic carcinoma, and malignant pleural mesothelioma. Design: - Following recovery from surgery, chemotherapy, or radiation, participants will have leukapheresis to collect lymphocytes (white blood cells) for testing. - Participants will receive celecoxib and cyclophosphamide to take twice a day at home, 7 days before the vaccine. - Participants will have the vaccine in the clinical center (one or two shots per month for 6 months), and will stay in the clinic for about 4 hours after the vaccine. Participants will keep a diary at home of any side effects from the vaccine, and will continue to take cyclophosphamide and celecoxib. - One month after the sixth vaccine, participants will provide another blood sample for testing, and if the tests are satisfactory will return to the clinic every 3 months for 2 additional vaccines. - Participants will return to clinic for follow-up physical examinations, lab tests, and scans every 3 months for 2 years and then every 6 months for up to 3 years.
Lung cancer remains the leading cause of mortality from malignant diseases in both men and women worldwide. Accurate diagnosis, staging and therapeutic targeting of lung cancer and other pulmonary pathology are vital with regards to providing patients with expedient and accurate treatment and treatment plans. The pre-operative evaluation and consultation in patients who are to undergo operative staging or resection for lung cancer is multidimensional and involves detailed history taking, physical examination and review of imaging studies. Two important elements of both staging and pre-operative evaluation include the evaluation of: (1) the pleural space for malignant pleural effusion and (2) the diaphragm for appropriate movement. At this point in time, the pleural space evaluation is being performed using CT scan which does not allow the acquisition of real-time cytological material from pleural effusions due to the fact that the CT scans are done in a diagnostic setting. Diaphragmatic movement/excursion is not currently being assessed pre-operatively and its impact on staging and post-operative pulmonary function is unknown. Malignant pleural effusion is recognized as a poor prognosticator in non-small cell lung cancer patients and has recently been upgraded from a T4 to an M1a status in the new edition of the AJCC NSCLC Staging System (7th Edition). The appreciation of the poor prognosis related to malignant effusion has upgraded the stage from a Stage IIIb to a stage IV. Recognizing the stage early allows for more precise prognostication of disease and can lead to precision and streamlining of treatment plans for thoracic surgeons and oncologists.
Some groups reported that sniffer dogs can be applied to detect lung cancer in the exhaled breath of patients. Therefore, breath samples (BS) of patients are collected. Five sniffer dogs are trained to distinguish between the BS of patients with lung cancer and healthy individuals (controls). In a prospective, randomized blinded study the dog's ability to differentiate between BS of i) patients with lung cancer, ii) patients with inflammatory airway disease, but no evidence of cancer and iii) healthy individuals is tested.
Evaluate chemotherapy related tumor markers on non small cell lung cancer by fluorescent in situ hybridization and immunohistochemistry, targets to be studied include EGFR, c-MET, topoisomerase II, p53, topoisomerase I, thymidylate synthase, ERCC1, tau, c-myc, RRM1, class III tubulin. These targets have been chosen because they are targets for chemotherapeutic agents that are currently used in clinical management of these diseases. In total 50 specimen will be studied, approximately one third have mutations/deletions of the EGFR gene.To attempt to establish a correlation between the pre-selected tumor markers and response to chemotherapy, and thus to be able to create a clinically useful classification that would provide clinical guidance for selection of the most effective chemotherapy for a individual patient, and thus be able to logically design more effective clinical trials for the future.
RATIONALE: Gathering health information about patients with non-small cell lung cancer who never smoked cigarettes may help doctors learn more about the disease. Collecting and storing samples of blood from patients with cancer to study in the laboratory may help doctors learn more about cancer and identify biomarkers related to cancer. PURPOSE: This research study is studying internet-based clinical information and blood sample collection from patients with non-small cell lung cancer who never smoked cigarettes.
Lung cancer is the No. cause of cancer death in Taiwan. Yet most of lung cancer are diagnosed at late stage, not amenable to surgical resection. With the introduction of new targeted agents, such as EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitors and the identification of EGFR mutations, lung cancer management has markedly changed in recent years. However, these new agents are costly and their payment is restricted in certain situations defined National Insurance Agency. Therefore, using databases from National Insurance Agency might not be able to reflect the exact impact on pharmacoeconomics. In this study, the investigators will analyze the data from a tertiary medical center, where all the costs including insurance reimbursement, co-payment, and payment not covered by insurance. The investigators will also compare with the investigators results with national database to analyze the cost benefit of these new agents on lung cancer.
RATIONALE: Studying samples of blood and tumor tissue from patients with cancer in the laboratory may help doctors learn more about changes that occur in DNA and identify biomarkers related to cancer. PURPOSE: This research study is studying biomarkers in tissue and blood samples from patients with early-stage non-small cell lung cancer.
RATIONALE: Gathering information about experiences of episodic breathlessness in patients with advanced disease may help doctors learn more about the disease. PURPOSE: This clinical trial is studying experiences of episodic breathlessness in patients with lung cancer or other advanced disease.
Cetuximab, erlotinib, and panitumumab are all recently FDA approved epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) inhibitors that treat a wide variety of tumor types, such as colon, lung, and head and neck. Blockade of the EGFR results in inhibition of multiple downstream pathways, leading to slowed tumor growth. In addition, these inhibitors may enhance anti-tumor immune responses through uncharacterized mechanisms. While producing significant responses in many settings, EGFR inhibitors also result in significant skin toxicity (rash) in a high percentage of patients. Multiple studies have correlated the presence and severity of rash with clinical response. Unfortunately, severe rash can often lead to dose delays, reductions, or even discontinuation of EGFR inhibitors, thus limiting their efficacy. The mechanism of both the rash and its correlation with tumor response is poorly understood. Skin biopsies display a robust leukocyte infiltrate, but a systematic analysis of the type of infiltrating leukocytes, activation state, or homing receptor expression has not been performed. Chemokines and chemokine receptors control leukocyte trafficking to the skin and other tissue sites, and defined receptor profiles for skin-, gut-, and lung-homing leukocytes are well established. In this study, the investigators propose to evaluate the homing phenotype of leukocytes from peripheral blood and skin biopsies of patients receiving EGFR inhibitors. The investigators will use RNA microarrays to evaluate the expression of chemokines and other key genes regulated in skin during treatment. The investigators will utilize in vitro methods to investigate effects of EGFR inhibitors on imprinting of T cell tissue-specific homing receptors. The investigators will examine correlations among the pathologic data, clinical findings, and tumor response. If validated, peripheral blood evaluation could potentially be used as a predictive indicator for patients receiving EGFR inhibitors. This study may also identify novel targets for limiting skin toxicity while receiving EGFR inhibitors, thus allowing maximal dosing and clinical response from these agents.
We hope to determine the importance of different genes (including B receptors) in anthracycline-induced cardiomyopathy. This has important benefits to patients exposed to anthracyclines, as this could help determine whether certain individuals have increased susceptibility to cardiac injury.