View clinical trials related to Melanoma.
Filter by:The purpose of this clinical research study is to examine the safety and effectiveness (how well the drug works) of two different treatments for patients with melanoma. One treatment is an investigational compound (a drug that is not currently approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration [FDA]), know as Ipilimumab (also known as MDX-010 or BMS-734016) together with an approved chemotherapy drug called Dacarbazine
The purpose of this research study is to study a type of gene therapy treatment called plasmid electroporation. This type of treatment involves the injection of a gene into some melanoma tumors located near the surface of the skin, followed by a burst of electricity into the tumor to cause the tumor to take up the gene. This study is a Phase I study to determine the side effects and the correct dose of this type of treatment and also its effectiveness in treating melanoma. While the electroporation technique has been used in people, the combination of plasmid injection and electroporation is being tried in human beings for the first time.
RATIONALE: Biological therapies such as cellular adoptive immunotherapy use different ways to stimulate the immune system and stop cancer cells from growing. Fludarabine may help the immune system kill more cancer cells. PURPOSE: Phase I trial to study the effectiveness of fludarabine followed by cellular adoptive immunotherapy in treating patients who have metastatic melanoma.
RATIONALE: Diagnostic procedures, such as positron emission tomography and computed tomography scan (done before and after cellular adoptive immunotherapy), may help doctors predict a patient's response to treatment and help plan the best treatment. PURPOSE: This phase II trial is studying how well positron emission tomography and computed tomography scan predicts response in patients with metastatic melanoma or kidney cancer who are undergoing cellular adoptive immunotherapy on a Surgery Branch clinical trial.
Background: - In a study in humans with melanoma, patients given total body irradiation to suppress the immune system in conjunction with chemotherapy showed a significant clinical response. - In previous studies, about one-half of patients given tumor-fighting cells (cells created from the patient's tumor cells and grown in the laboratory) showed some anti-tumor response. Objective: To determine whether tumor-fighting cells taken from a melanoma tumor and grown in the lab can more effectively at fight melanoma when the patient's immune system is suppressed and cannot attack them. Eligibility: Patients 18 years of age or older with metastatic melanoma who have tumor reactive cells available. Design: -Patients are assigned to one of two groups - those having received prior therapy with Interleukin-2 (IL-2) and those who have not. After five days of injections of filgrastim, a medicine to stimulated the growth of white blood cells, patients undergo apheresis or bone marrow harvesting, or both, to collect stem cells for later re-infusion. For apheresis, whole blood is collected through a needle in an arm vein and circulated through a cell-separating machine where the stem cells are extracted. The rest of the blood is returned through the same needle or a needle in the other arm. Bone marrow harvesting is done under general anesthesia. Stem cells are collected through a large needle inserted into the hipbone.-Patients' immune system cells and bone marrow function are eliminated with chemotherapy (7 days) and total body irradiation (3 days) so the patient's immune system cells will not fight the tumor-fighting cells they are given in treatment. - 1 to 3 days after total body irradiation, patients receive the tumor-fighting cells by intravenous (IV) infusion. After the cells are infused, they receive interleukin-2 (IL-2) infusions every 8 hours for 5 days. - 2 days after infusion of the tumor-fighting cells, patients receive the stem cells collected earlier by apheresis. - Patients are evaluated 4 to 6 weeks after cell infusion to look for tumor response to treatment. Patients whose tumor has not grown return to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) every 1 to 3 months for blood tests, scans and x-rays.
Background: - CD4+ cells are white blood cells that regulate the immune system by controlling the strength and quality of the immune response. - CD25+ cells are a subset of CD4+ cells that suppress or prevent immune responses. - RFT-5-dgA is an immunotoxin (substance that kills specific cells in the immune system) that kills CD25+ cells. - In mouse studies, RFT-5-dgA showed anti-tumor activity in animals studies. Objective: To determine whether the immune system of patients with metastatic melanoma (melanoma that has spread beyond the original site) can cause tumors to shrink if the patients are given RFT-5-dgA to remove their CD25+ cells. Eligibility: Patients 18 years of age and older with metastatic melanoma whose disease has progressed after receiving standard treatment. Design: - Patients receive RFT-5-dgA through a vein every other day for a total of 3 doses (one treatment course). Patients have routine blood tests during the week of treatment. - Four to 5 weeks after the last dose, patients are evaluated with a physical examination, blood tests and scans and x-rays to evaluate their tumor. - Patients whose tumor has shrunk or remained stable may be offered additional treatment with RFT-5-dgA up to a total of four courses. - Patients undergo leukapheresis or have several tubes of blood drawn from a vein to determine the effects of RFT-5-dgA on the immune system. This is done before the first dose of RFT-5-dgA, after the first three doses, and possibly during subsequent treatment courses in those patients who receive additional treatment. For leukapheresis, blood is collected through a needle in an arm vein and flows through a catheter into a machine that separates it into its components by spinning. The white cells are extracted and the rest of the blood is returned through another needle in the other arm.
This is a randomized, controlled, multicenter, dose-escalation study of fludarabine. Patients are randomized to 1 of 2 treatment arms. The purpose of this study is to find out what side effects are caused in this study and whether Fludarabine with the dendritic cell vaccine (DC vaccine) can increase the ability of the immune system to recognize melanoma.
The purpose of this study is to test a combined treatment using cyclophosphamide and a novel dendritic cell vaccine in patients with Stage IV melanoma.
The purpose of this study is to determine whether combination therapy with bevacizumab (Avastin), dacarbazine and interferon-alfa-2a (Roferon-A) is effective in patients with locally advancing or metastatic melanoma.
The purpose of this study is to monitor a specific cellular immune response in melanoma patients at an early stage of the disease, that have been vaccinated with a Melan-A VLP vaccine.