View clinical trials related to Skin Neoplasms.
Filter by:This study will determine if family members of patients with xeroderma pigmentosum (XP) have various abnormalities, including: skin abnormalities; nervous system abnormalities, such as hearing problems; skin, eye, or internal cancers, or other changes. XP is a rare inherited disease that involves an inability to repair damage to cell DNA (genetic material). It can affect several organ systems, including the skin, eye, nervous system, and bones. Patients have a more than thousand-fold increase in frequency in all major skin cancers. Parents of patients with XP are carriers of the abnormal XP gene. Other family members may also be carriers of the abnormal XP gene. Carriers do not develop the disease themselves; symptoms develop only in children who have inherited the faulty gene from both parents. This study will try to clarify the genetic basis for XP and to understand the increased frequency of cancer in the disease. XP patients who have been evaluated at the NIH Clinical Center and their relatives are eligible for this study. Newly diagnosed XP patients are also eligible. Spouses of relatives will also be included as control subjects. Patients and their family members will undergo some or all of the following procedures: - Parental permission to review the child s relevant medical records and pathology material from treatments or surgery for cancer or other related illnesses - Medical history and physical examination, with particular attention to the skin and possible eye, hearing or neurological examinations - Photographs to document skin and other physical findings - Nuclear medicine scans to evaluate the brain and nervous system - X-rays of the skull or other parts of the body - Nervous system testing with an electroencephalogram (EEG), electroretinogram (ERG), electromyogram (EMG) or nerve conduction velocity measurement - Collection of blood and skin samples for gene studies - Establishment of cell lines from collected blood or tissues to study DNA repair, skin cancer, cancers related to XP, immune defects, and related studies. - Biopsy (surgical removal of a small piece of tissue) of suspicious skin lesions for examination under a microscope - Collection of a cheek cell sample, obtained by twirling a soft brush against the inside of the cheek - Collection of a hair sample for microscopic examination and composition analysis - Surgery to treat skin cancers or other lesions
The purpose of this clinical trial is to determine if Allovectin-7®, an experimental gene-based immunotherapy, can shrink melanoma tumors. The trial will also examine if this treatment can improve the time to disease progression.
RATIONALE: Imatinib mesylate may interfere with the growth of tumor cells and may be an effective treatment for metastatic melanoma. PURPOSE: Phase II trial to study the effectiveness of imatinib mesylate in treating patients who have metastatic melanoma.
RATIONALE: Chemoprevention therapy is the use of certain drugs to try to prevent the development or recurrence of cancer. Isotretinoin may be effective in preventing the development or recurrence of skin cancer. PURPOSE: Clinical trial to study the effectiveness of isotretinoin in preventing or slowing the growth of skin cancer in patients who have xeroderma pigmentosum or basal cell carcinoma.
RATIONALE: Chemoprevention therapy is the use of certain drugs to try to prevent the development or recurrence of cancer. Eflornithine with or without triamcinolone may be effective in preventing nonmelanoma skin cancer. PURPOSE: Randomized phase II trial to compare the effectiveness of eflornithine with or without triamcinolone in preventing nonmelanoma skin cancer in patients who have actinic keratosis.
RATIONALE: Photodynamic therapy uses light and drugs that make cancer cells more sensitive to light to kill tumor cells. Photosensitizing drugs such as HPPH are absorbed by cancer cells and, when exposed to light, become active and kill the cancer cells. PURPOSE: Phase I trial to study the effectiveness of photodynamic therapy with HPPH in treating patients who have basal cell skin cancer.
One-third of all malignancies in the United States (approximately one million cases diagnosed annually) are nonmelanoma skin cancer (NMSC). NMSC causes considerable morbidity, economic burden, facial deformity and at least 1,000 deaths annually. Prevention of these malignancies with a topical agent free of serious side effects would confer substantial public health benefit. Three hundred fifty thousand veterans were expected to develop NMSC in 1994. NMSC is one of the most common conditions requiring dermatologic care in the VA system. Topical tretinoin has been used extensively to treat photoaged skin. Retinoids administered orally in high doses appear to be effective in chemoprevention of nonmelanoma skin cancer but have unacceptable toxicity. In this study, 1131 patients with a recent history of squamous cell and/or basal cell carcinoma were enrolled at six participating centers over a four-year period and were randomly assigned to either 0.1% tretinoin cream or placebo. They were followed for a minimum of two years to determine if topical tretinoin is effective in reducing the risk of new occurrences.
RATIONALE: SU5416 may stop the growth of cancer cells by stopping blood flow to the tumor. PURPOSE: Phase II trial to study the effectiveness of SU5416 in treating patients who have advanced or recurrent cancer of the head and neck.
RATIONALE: Chemoprevention therapy is the use of certain drugs to try to prevent the development or recurrence of cancer. The use of eflornithine may be an effective way to prevent the recurrence of or further development of skin cancer. PURPOSE: Randomized phase III trial to determine the effectiveness of eflornithine in preventing skin cancer in patients who have previously received treatment for early stage skin 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 study the effectiveness of irinotecan in treating patients who have advanced neuroendocrine tumors.