View clinical trials related to Cancer.
Filter by:In mouse models and in patients, expression of the chemokine receptor CXCR4 on various cancers has been correlated with aggressive biological behavior, including increased rates and certain sites of metastasis, and decreased survival. Plerixafor (Mozobil ; Genzyme; Cambridge, MA) has been identified as a specific inhibitor of CXCR4, and it is currently approved by the Food and Drug Administration as a stem-cell mobilizing agent in combination with granulocyte colony-stimulating factor in the treatment of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and multiple myeloma. Our group has recently shown that plerixafor can be labeled with the positron-emitting radionuclide copper-64((64)Cu) to form (64)Cu-plerixafor, which can be used to visualize CXCR4-positive tumor xenografts in mice using small-animal positron emission tomography (PET). Determining CXCR4 expression in tumors using (64)Cu-plerixafor and PET/computerized tomography (CT) scanning could be useful in predicting tumor behavior and responses to current and experimental therapies, including therapies targeting CXCR4, which could lead to more effective personalized cancer treatments. This study s primary objective is to evaluate (64)Cu-plerixafor as an imaging agent for quantifying CXCR4 expression in subjects (greater than or equal to 18 years of age) with cancer; at least 1 detectable solid tumor of greater than or equal to 2 cm in diameter found outside of the lymph nodes, bone marrow, liver, gallbladder, kidney, bladder, and brain; and preexisting biopsies of the tumors obtained since the first detection of the current occurrence/recurrence of disease. The secondary objectives are to correlate (64)Cu-plerixafor standardized uptake value in the target lesion with the level of CXCR4 expression detected via immunohistochemistry and to calculate human dosimetry for (64)Cu-plerixafor. Preexisting tumor biopsies from less than or equal to 75 subjects recruited from the National Cancer Institute and the Georgetown University Hospital will be evaluated for CXCR4 expression via immunohistochemistry. Subjects who meet the eligibility criteria will continue onto the study. Five subjects with CXCR4-positive tumor biopsies will be administered an initial intravenous infusion of (64)Cu-plerixafor (8 +/-0.8 mCi ; 0.48+/- 0.048 rem; not to exceed 5 microg of (64)Cu -plerixafor) over 2 minutes. They will then undergo an initial low-dose transmission CT scan followed by 3 consecutive torso PET scans as soon as practical after the infusion, and 2 additional PET/CT scans at 4 hours +/- 1 hour and 24 hours +/- 2 hours post-infusion. Human dosimetry will be calculated based on these results, and a maximum dose will be used, not to exceed the calculated limit of a total effective dose of 5 rem, or the radiation exposure limit for each organ. The remaining subjects with CXCR4-positive (n=15) and CXCR4-negative (n=5) tumor biopsies will be administered 64Cu-plerixafor at the same, or a newly calculated dose, and will undergo 1 PET/CT scan between 1 and 4 hours post-infusion, depending on the dosimetry results. All subjects will undergo one comprehensive final study visit between study days 19 and 23 (11-17 days after injection with (64)Cu -plerixafor). Additionally, blood will be collected 2 more times between study days 13-16 and study days 26-30 to measure blood cell counts.
The purpose of this research study is to examine the pharmacokinetics (the process by which a drug is absorbed, distributed, metabolized, and eliminated by the body) of micafungin when it is given at 5mg/kg dose to immunocompromised children as anti-fungal prophylaxis. These children are at high risk for developing invasive fungal disease due to their compromised immunity and associated variable degree and duration of neutropenia. Currently, children who receive micafungin are given daily or alternate day dosing. The investigators will give a ONE TIME dose of micafungin and draw PK levels up to 96 hours post-infusion. The investigators goal is to obtain comparable micafungin drug concentrations at the end of 96 hours (4 days) as compared to lower dose at every 24 hour dosing. The investigators dosing proposal is likely to be effective prophylaxis for immunocompromised patients and would broaden its applicability to larger populations.
Background: During recent years, cancer-testis (CT) antigens (CTA), particularly those encoded by genes on the X chromosome (CT-X genes), have emerged as attractive targets for cancer immunotherapy. Whereas malignancies of diverse histologies express a variety of CTAs, immune responses to these proteins appear uncommon in cancer patients, possibly due to low-level, heterogeneous antigen expression, as well as immunosuppressive regulatory T cells present within tumor sites and systemic circulation of these individuals. Conceivably, vaccination of cancer patients with tumor cells expressing high levels of CTAs in combination with regimens that deplete or inhibit T regulatory cells will induce broad immunity to these antigens. In order to examine this issue, patients with primary lung and esophageal cancers, pleural mesotheliomas, thoracic sarcomas, thymic neoplasms and mediastinal germ cell tumors, as well as sarcomas, melanomas, germ cell tumors, or epithelial malignancies metastatic to lungs, pleura or mediastinum with no evidence of disease (NED) or minimal residual disease (MRD) following standard multidisciplinary therapy will be vaccinated with H1299 tumor cell lysates with Iscomatrix adjuvant. Vaccines will be administered with or without metronomic oral cyclophosphamide (50 mg by mouth (PO) twice a day (BID) x 7day (d) every (q) 14d), and celecoxib (400 mg PO BID). Serologic responses to a variety of recombinant CTAs as well as immunologic responses to autologous tumor or epigenetically modified autologous Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) transformed lymphocytes will be assessed before and after a six month vaccination period. Primary Objectives: 1. To assess the frequency of immunologic responses to CTAs in patients with thoracic malignancies following vaccinations with H1299 cell lysate/Iscomatrix(TM) vaccines alone in comparison to patients with thoracic malignancies following vaccinations with H1299 cell lysate/Iscomatrix vaccines in combination with metronomic cyclophosphamide and celecoxib. Secondary Objectives: 1. To examine if oral metronomic cyclophosphamide and celecoxib therapy diminishes the number and percentage of T regulatory cells and diminishes activity of these cells in patients with thoracic malignancies are at risk of recurrence. 2. To examine if H1299 cell lysate/Iscomatrix(TM) vaccination enhances immunologic response to autologous tumor or epigenetically modified autologous EBV-transformed lymphocytes (B cells). Eligibility: - Patients with histologically or cytologically proven small cell or non-small cell lung cancer (SCLC;NSCLC), esophageal cancer (EsC), malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM), thymic or mediastinal germ cell tumors, thoracic sarcomas, or melanomas, sarcomas, or epithelial malignancies metastatic to lungs, pleura or mediastinum who have no clinical evidence of active disease (NED), or minimal residual disease (MRD) not readily accessible by non-invasive biopsy or resection/radiation following standard therapy completed within the past 26 weeks. - Patients must be 18 years or older with an Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) performance status of 0 - 2. - Patients must have adequate bone marrow, kidney, liver, lung and cardiac function. - Patients may not be on systemic immunosuppressive medications at time vaccinations commence. Design: - Following recovery from surgery, chemotherapy, or chemo/radiotherapy (XRT), patients with NED or MRD will be vaccinated via IM injection with H1299 cell lysates and Iscomatrix(TM) adjuvant monthly for 6 months. - Vaccines will be administered with or without with metronomic oral cyclophosphamide and celecoxib. - Systemic toxicities and immunologic response to therapy will be recorded. Pre and post vaccination serologic and cell mediated responses to a standard panel of CT antigens as well as autologous tumor cells (if available) and EBV-transformed lymphocytes will be assessed before and after vaccination. - Numbers/percentages and function of T regulatory cells in peripheral blood will be assessed before, during, and after vaccinations. - Patients will be followed in the clinic with routine staging scans until disease recurrence. - The trial will randomize 28 evaluable patients per arm to either receive vaccine alone or vaccine plus chemotherapy in order to have 80% power to determine if the frequency of immune responses on the combination arm exceeds that of the vaccine alone arm, if the expected frequencies of immune responses on the two arms were 20% and 50%, using a one-sided 0.10 alpha level Fisher's exact test. - Approximately 60 patients will be accrued to this trial.
The investigators will leverage e-technologies to provide an online version of the Question Prompt LIst (QPL-CT), that patients access via available iPads, enabling both the real-time prioritizing of patient questions as well as the seamless delivery of these questions to their treating physician (and other members of their clinical team) via the VCU Health System (VCUHS) patient portal, and the electronic medical record (EMR) prior to a consultation to discuss a clinical trial
The goal of this clinical research study is to learn if calcium alumina-silicate (CASAD) can help to stop your diarrhea. Researchers also want to know if this drug can help decrease the duration of your diarrhea. In this study, CASAD will be compared to a placebo. A placebo is not a drug. It looks like the study drug but it is not designed to treat any disease or illness. It is designed in this study to be compared with the study drug to learn if the study drug has any real effect.
Cancer results when undifferentiated cells grow in an uncontrolled manner, crowding out normal cells, causing morbidity and ultimately mortality. The cancer stem cell theory suggests that most tumors undergo a process of differentiation through which a relatively rare cancer stem or progenitor cell (CSC) gives rise to more differentiated populations of cells (including transiently amplifying cells) comprising the bulk of the tumor. As a result of this cellular diversity, one or more cells within the tumor are likely to be resistant to therapy. Among cells resistant to a given therapy, only CSCs can repopulate the tumor. A key feature of this resistant subset of CSCs is that they repopulate a tumor resistant to the original intervention. The cellular programs driving the uncontrolled proliferation of many solid tumors result from aberrant activity of Wnt, Shh, and/or Notch signaling pathways in CSC. Thus, therapies that down-regulate the activity of these fundamental pathways in CSCs will be effective in the treatment of cancer. The investigators' research program focuses on the elucidation of signaling mechanisms, control of cellular processes and discovery of small molecules that selectively target Wnt, Shh, and Notch signaling pathways that are fundamental to CSCs. Our preliminary results identified a novel Notch associated protein NACK that functions as a transcriptional co-activator of Notch. Moreover, Nack is expressed in human solid tumors and is required for cell survival and tumor growth in notch -dependent tumor cells. The investigators' aim is to further interrogate the link between Notch and Nack.
Rapid and rational health-care interventions are of great importance to efficiently combat the emergence of resistant and virulent bacteria. In recent years, spread of ESBL-E on a global level has been observed. For ESBL-E, effective eradication regimens are not yet available. The current study therefore aims to assess a new approach to ESBL-E eradication. To avoid administration of the eradication regimen to patients at low risk of subsequent BSI with ESBL-E, the study population will be restricted to immunocompromised high-risk patients.
Hsp90 is a chemical in the body that is involved in the promotion of cancer. SNX-5422 is an experimental drug that blocks Hsp90
The purpose of this study is to: - Determine how well people tolerate sodium bicarbonate taken by mouth in higher doses than those usually given for heartburn. - Determine if sodium bicarbonate can reduce cancer-related pain.
This Phase II study is conducted to assess the safety and efficacy of CPI-613 in patients with advanced and/or metastatic solid tumors for whom there there is no available therapy to provide clinical benefit or for those who have refused further standard therapy. The primary outcome measure is Overall Survival (OS). The secondary outcome measures are: Response Rate (RR), Progression-Free Survival (PFS), and safety.