Active clinical trials for "Brain Neoplasms"

Patients with recurrent or refractory solid tumors or brain tumors that are unresponsive to conventional therapy, or with no known effective therapy, will be treated. Experiments in the laboratory have shown the experimental drug RAD001C (RAD001, Everolimus) can prevent cells from multiplying. RAD001 is now being tested in diseases such as cancer, in which excessive cell multiplication needs to be stopped. The drug has been tested in adult cancer patients and has been well tolerated by subjects in these studies. It is experimental and, therefore, available in clinical trials.

The standard treatment for children with brain tumors is surgical removal of the tumor followed by radiation to the brain and chemotherapy (medicines) given to shrink any remaining tumor or to prevent tumor from growing back. There are very few treatment options available for children whose brain tumor grows back after receiving radiation treatment. There is a greater risk of complications and side effects when the brain is repeatedly treated with external radiation. The side effects of repeat radiation treatment are dependent on the amount of the brain that is radiated. Radiation given with PRS during surgery is focused to the specific area of the brain where the tumor is located. Therefore, the area of the brain affected by the radiation is smaller. It is hoped that this targeted radiation will lessen the side effects to the normal brain that is not affected by the tumor. It is also hoped that a lower occurrence of side effects will increase the quality of life of children with brain tumors. The optimal dose of targeted radiation is not known. Therefore, increasing doses will be given to treat different patients, starting with the lowest possible dose. The amount of radiation to be given will depend on whether or not your child received prior radiation therapy and where the tumor is located. The groups of patients will first be divided into 2 groups: Group A, who are those who received radiation as part of their prior treatment, and Group B, who are those who did not receive any radiation treatment. Each group will be then divided again into 2 groups depending on the location of the tumor. In each group, if the lowest dose is well-tolerated with only minimal side effects by 3 patients, then the next higher dose will be given to the next 3 patients. The purposes of this research are: To evaluate the potential side effects of a single high dose of x-rays using the Photon Radiosurgery System (PRS) given to a small area of the brain. To determine the maximum dose of targeted radiation that can be safely given to brain tumors with the fewest side effects. To see how well this treatment works for children with recurrent brain tumors and newly-diagnosed glioblastoma multiforme.

Brain metastases occur when cancer cells from the initial tumour site (for example, lung or breast) spread to the brain. This develops in approximately 10% - 30% of adults with cancer. They can produce different complaints related to their effect on brain functioning, decrease in a person's ability to carry on with their usual activities, a reduction in the quality of life and shortened life expectancy. The standard treatment particularly for people with more than one brain metastasis consists of palliative radiation therapy to the brain and steroids. Steroids (such as Decadron or Dexamethasone) are medication used to reduce swelling around the tumour, and thus symptoms improve. Steroids could be very helpful but have a number of potential side effects, particularly if used for longer periods of time. There is no standard dose of Decadron used in treating brain metastases patients. The most commonly dose used is 4 mg four times/day. This study will assess if lower doses of Decadron - 8 mg every morning for symptomatic patients and 4 mg every morning for asymptomatic patients - are effective in maintaining symptom control in patients with brain metastases, without neurological deterioration that necessitates the patient to go back or to a higher dose at any time. This information will help also in understanding how to decrease the side effects associated with higher doses of steroids in people with your condition.

The purpose of this study is to examine the long-term safety and tolerability of human corticotropin-releasing factor (hCRF), XERECEPT®, in patients requiring dexamethasone (Decadron) to treat peritumoral brain edema. This open-label, extended-use study is open to all patients who participate in either of the blinded studies, NTI 0302, NTI 0303, or other designated studies, including patients who may have discontinued blinded study medication early but completed the protocol-stipulated follow-up periods.

For patients who have one or two metastases in the brain, the tumor(s) can often be removed with surgery to relieve symptoms from the tumor(s) and to improve survival. However, about half of all patients who have the tumor(s) removed with surgery will develop regrowth (recurrence) of the tumor. To prevent this regrowth of tumor, some patients receive radiation to the entire brain (whole brain radiation) after surgery. This involves daily treatment for about two to three weeks, and may cause long-term neurological problems, such as memory loss. Stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) is sometimes used instead of surgery to treat brain metastasis. This involves the use of a special head frame and sophisticated computer programs that enable us to deliver a high dose of radiation to a small focused area of the brain in only one treatment. Research has shown that the results of treatment with SRS are as good as surgical removal of the tumor. SRS and surgical resection are considered the standard options for the treatment of brain metastases. This Phase II clinical trial is studying the combination of these two techniques. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the use of SRS following surgical removal of brain metastases. The outcomes we will be looking at are tumor regrowth after treatment and side effects of treatment.

The goal of this clinical research study is to find the highest safe dose of lomustine (CCNU, CeeNUTM) that can be given with temozolomide (TemodarTM) and thalidomide (ThalomidTM) in the treatment of metastatic melanoma that has spread to the brain. The safety and effectiveness of this combination therapy will also be studied.

Purpose: The primary objective of this study is to determine if chemotherapy with carboplatin and temozolomide significantly affects the response rates, or size of disease, in patients with brain metastases, originating from cancer in other parts of the body, compared to patients who have already been treated with radiation. Survival, causes of death, recurrence of disease in the central nervous system, toxicity, and quality of life will all be measured as secondary objective in this study.

RATIONALE: Drugs used in chemotherapy use different ways to stop tumor cells from dividing so they stop growing or die. Radiation therapy uses high-energy x-rays to damage tumor cells. Thalidomide may stop the growth of cancer by stopping blood flow to the tumor. Combining whole-brain radiation therapy with thalidomide and temozolomide may kill more tumor cells. PURPOSE: Phase II trial to study the effectiveness of combining whole-brain radiation therapy with thalidomide and temozolomide in treating patients who have newly diagnosed brain metastases.

This phase I trial is studying the side effects of fluorine F18 EF5 when given during positron emission tomography to find oxygen in tumor cells of patients who are undergoing surgery or biopsy for newly diagnosed brain tumors. Diagnostic procedures using fluorine F 18 EF5 and positron emission tomography to detect tumor hypoxia may help in planning cancer treatment

RATIONALE: Drugs used in chemotherapy, such as VNP40101M, work in different ways to stop tumor cells from dividing so they stop growing or die. PURPOSE: This phase I trial is studying the side effects and best dose of VNP40101M in treating young patients with recurrent, progressive, or refractory primary brain tumors.