Active clinical trials for "Ependymoma"

This phase II Pediatric MATCH trial studies how well palbociclib works in treating patients with Rb positive solid tumors, non-Hodgkin lymphoma, or histiocytic disorders with activating alterations (mutations) in cell cycle genes that have spread to other places in the body and have come back or do not respond to treatment. Palbociclib may stop the growth of cancer cells by blocking some of the proteins needed for cell growth.

This is a Phase 1 study of central nervous system (CNS) locoregional adoptive therapy with autologous CD4+ and CD8+ T cells that are lentivirally transduced to express an EGFR806 specific chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) and EGFRt. CAR T cells are delivered via an indwelling catheter into the tumor cavity or the ventricular system in children and young adults with recurrent or refractory EGFR-positive CNS tumors. The primary objectives of this protocol are to evaluate the feasibility, safety, and tolerability of CNS-delivered fractionated CAR T cell infusions employing intra-patient dose escalation. Subjects with supratentorial tumors will receive sequential EGFR806-specific CAR T cells delivered into the tumor resection cavity, subjects with infratentorial tumors will receive sequential CAR T cells delivered into the fourth ventricle, and subjects with leptomeningeal disease will receive sequential CAR T cells delivered into the lateral ventricle. The secondary objectives are to assess CAR T cell distribution within the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), the extent to which CAR T cells egress into the peripheral circulation, and EGFR expression at recurrence of initially EGFR-positive tumors. Additionally, tumor response will be evaluated by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and CSF cytology. The exploratory objectives are to analyze CSF specimens for biomarkers of anti-tumor CAR T cell presence and functional activity.

Approximately 90% of children with malignant brain tumors that have recurred or relapsed after receiving conventional therapy will die of disease. Despite this terrible and frustrating outcome, continued treatment of this population remains fundamental to improving cure rates. Studying this relapsed population will help unearth clues to why conventional therapy fails and how cancers continue to resist modern advances. Moreover, improvements in the treatment of this relapsed population will lead to improvements in upfront therapy and reduce the chance of relapse for all. Novel therapy and, more importantly, novel approaches are sorely needed. This trial proposes a new approach that evaluates rational combination therapies of novel agents based on tumor type and molecular characteristics of these diseases. The investigators hypothesize that the use of two predictably active drugs (a doublet) will increase the chance of clinical efficacy. The purpose of this trial is to perform a limited dose escalation study of multiple doublets to evaluate the safety and tolerability of these combinations followed by a small expansion cohort to detect preliminary efficacy. In addition, a more extensive and robust molecular analysis of all the participant samples will be performed as part of the trial such that we can refine the molecular classification and better inform on potential response to therapy. In this manner the tolerability of combinations can be evaluated on a small but relevant population and the chance of detecting antitumor activity is potentially increased. Furthermore, the goal of the complementary molecular characterization will be to eventually match the therapy with better predictive biomarkers. PRIMARY OBJECTIVES: To determine the safety and tolerability and estimate the maximum tolerated dose/recommended phase 2 dose (MTD/RP2D) of combination treatment by stratum. To characterize the pharmacokinetics of combination treatment by stratum. SECONDARY OBJECTIVE: To estimate the rate and duration of objective response and progression free survival (PFS) by stratum.

This is a Phase I study to evaluate the safety profile of a type of immune therapy called HER2 CAR T cells (short for HER2 chimeric antigen receptor T cells). In addition to looking for side effects, we will study how well this treatment works against a brain tumor called ependymoma that has come back after treatment (recurrent) or has not responded well to treatment (progressive) in children. The HER2 CAR T cells used in this trial are made from the patient's own blood. A new gene, called the HER2 CAR, will be inserted into patient's T cells to allow them recognize a protein on the tumor called HER2. These HER2-specific CAR T cells may be able to target and kill ependymoma tumors that express HER2. This research is also studying how doable it is to provide this type of CAR T cell treatment to children being treated at different hospitals.

This pilot phase I clinical trial studies how well lapatinib ditosylate before surgery works in treating patients with high-grade glioma that has come back after a period of time during which the tumor could not be detected. Lapatinib ditosylate may stop the growth of tumor cells by blocking some of the enzymes needed for cell growth.

Some patients with brain tumors receive standard radiation to help prevent tumor growth. Although standard radiation kills tumor cells, it can also damage normal tissue in the process and lead to more side effects. This research study is looking at a different form of radiation called proton radiotherapy which helps spare normal tissues while delivering radiation to the tumor or tumor bed. Proton techniques irradiate 2-3 times less normal tissue then standard radiation. This therapy has been used in treatment of other cancers and information from those other research studies suggests that this therapy may help better target brain tumors then standard radiation.

RATIONALE: Giving high-dose chemotherapy before an autologous stem cell transplant stops the growth of tumor cells by stopping them from dividing or killing them. Giving colony-stimulating factors, such as G-CSF, helps stem cells move from the bone marrow to the blood so they can be collected and stored. Chemotherapy is then given to prepare the bone marrow for the stem cell transplant. The stem cells are then returned to the patient to replace the blood-forming cells that were destroyed by the chemotherapy. PURPOSE: This clinical trial is studying how well giving busulfan, melphalan, and topotecan hydrochloride together with a stem cell transplant works in treating patients with newly diagnosed or relapsed solid tumor.

This phase I trial studies the side effects and best dose of APX005M in treating younger patients with primary malignant central nervous system tumor that is growing, spreading, or getting worse (progressive), or newly diagnosed diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma. APX005M can trigger activation of B cells, monocytes, and dendritic cells and stimulat cytokine release from lymphocytes and monocytes. APX005M can mediate a direct cytotoxic effect on CD40+ tumor cells.

This phase II Pediatric MATCH trial studies how well tazemetostat works in treating patients with brain tumors, solid tumors, non-Hodgkin lymphoma, or histiocytic disorders that have come back (relapsed) or do not respond to treatment (refractory) and have EZH2, SMARCB1, or SMARCA4 gene mutations. Tazemetostat may stop the growth of tumor cells by blocking EZH2 and its relation to some of the pathways needed for cell proliferation.

This phase II Pediatric MATCH trial studies how well samotolisib works in treating patients with solid tumors, non-Hodgkin lymphoma, or histiocytic disorders with TSC or PI3K/MTOR mutations that have spread to other places in the body (metastatic) and have come back (recurrent) or do not respond to treatment (refractory). Samotolisib may stop the growth of cancer cells by blocking some of the enzymes needed for cell growth.