Active clinical trials for "Carcinoma, Renal Cell"

RATIONALE: Interferon alfa may interfere with the growth of tumor cells. Interleukin-2 may stimulate a person's white blood cells to kill tumor cells. Drugs used in chemotherapy use different ways to stop tumor cells from dividing so they stop growing or die. Combining interferon alfa with interleukin-2 and fluorouracil may kill more tumor cells. It is not yet known whether interferon alfa is more effective with or without interleukin-2 and fluorouracil in treating metastatic kidney cancer. PURPOSE: Randomized phase III trial to compare the effectiveness of interferon alfa combined with interleukin-2 and fluorouracil to that of interferon alfa alone in treating patients who have advanced metastatic kidney cancer.

RATIONALE: Drugs used in chemotherapy use different ways to stop cancer cells from dividing so they stop growing or die. PURPOSE: Phase II trial to study the effectiveness of PS-341 in treating patients who have metastatic kidney cancer.

RATIONALE: Interleukin-4 PE38KDEL cytotoxin may be able to deliver cancer-killing substances directly to solid tumor cells. PURPOSE: Phase I trial to study the effectiveness of intravenous interleukin-4 PE38KDEL cytotoxin in treating patients who have recurrent or metastatic kidney cancer, non-small cell lung cancer, or breast cancer that has not responded to previous treatment.

This study will examine whether the experimental drug BMS 247550 (Ixabepilone) is an effective treatment for kidney cancer. BMS 247550 belongs to a class of drugs called epothilones that interfere with the ability of cancer cells to divide. In the way they kill cells, they are very similar to a class of compounds known as the taxanes, which include the drug Taxol. Other characteristics of the epothilones, however, enable them to work in cells that are resistant to Taxol. Patients 18 years of age or older with kidney cancer that has not spread to the central nervous system (unless the brain tumor has remained stable for at least six months after surgical or radiation treatment) may be eligible for this study. Pregnant or nursing women may not participate. Candidates are screened with various tests that may include blood and urine tests, electrocardiogram (EKG), and chest x-ray. Computerized tomography (CT) scans or X-rays, and possibly nuclear medicine studies may be done to determine the extent of disease. Participants receive BMS 247550 by a 1-hour infusion into a vein for 5 consecutive days (days 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5) of each 21-day treatment cycle. Patients must stay in the National Institutes of Health (NIH) area near Bethesda, Maryland, for 7 to 8 days during the first treatment cycle and for the 5 days of treatment in subsequent cycles. The total number of cycles will vary among patients, depending on their individual clinical situation. The drug dose may be increased gradually in subsequent cycles in patients who can tolerate such increases. In addition, participants undergo the following tests and procedures: Periodic physical examinations and frequent blood tests X-ray and other imaging studies to determine if the tumor is responding to the treatment. Tumor biopsies to confirm the diagnosis or spread of tumor and to examine the reaction of certain proteins in cancer cells to BMS 247550. Two biopsies will be done. For this procedure, a small piece of tumor tissue is withdrawn through a needle under local anesthetic. Treatment will be stopped in patients whose tumor grows while receiving BMS 247550. Patients whose tumor disappears completely will be followed at NIH periodically for examinations and tests. Patients whose disease does not completely resolve or whose disease recurs may be advised of other appropriate research protocols at NIH or, if none are available, will be returned to the care of their local doctor.

The primary objective of this study is efficacy. The primary efficacy endpoint of this study is a comparison of the overall survival of subjects treated with CCI-779 [Temsirolimus], administered intravenously [IV] once weekly and the combination of CCI-779, administered IV once weekly with Interferon Alfa [IFN alfa] subcutaneously [SC] three times per week [TIW], compared with the overall survival of subjects treated with IFN alfa (SC TIW) alone, in poor-prognosis subjects with advanced RCC.

RATIONALE: Vaccines may make the body build an immune response to kill tumor cells. PURPOSE: Phase I trial to study the effectiveness of vaccine therapy in treating patients who have advanced kidney cancer.

RATIONALE: Interferon alfa-2b may interfere with the growth of the cancer cells. Thalidomide may stop the growth of cancer by stopping blood flow to the tumor. It is not yet known if interferon alfa-2b is more effective with or without thalidomide in treating kidney cancer. PURPOSE: Randomized phase III trial to compare the effectiveness of interferon alfa-2b with or without thalidomide in treating patients who have previously untreated metastatic or unresectable kidney cancer.

RATIONALE: Erlotinib may stop the growth of tumor cells by blocking the enzymes necessary for tumor cell growth. PURPOSE: Phase II trial to study the effectiveness of erlotinib in treating patients who have advanced kidney cancer.

In patients with renal cell cancer, most frequent methods of treatment include surgery, chemotherapy, hormonal therapy, and immunotherapy. Renal cell carcinoma is usually considered to be radioresistant and chemoresistant. In patients with metastatic disease, the options are limited. The taxanes are among the most commonly used class of chemotherapy agents in clinical oncology today but they are not effective in renal cancers; the development of Bay 59-8862 targets taxane-resistant tumors and the current protocol is designed to test the safety and efficacy of Bay 59-8862 in patients with advanced renal cell carcinoma.

RATIONALE: Giving low doses of chemotherapy, such as cyclophosphamide and fludarabine, before a donor peripheral blood stem cell transplant helps stop the growth of tumor cells. It may also stop the patient's immune system from rejecting the donor's stem cells. The donated stem cells may replace the patient's immune cells and help destroy any remaining tumor cells (graft-versus-tumor effect). Giving an infusion of the donor's T cells (donor lymphocyte infusion) after the transplant may help increase this effect. Sometimes the transplanted cells from a donor can also make an immune response against the body's normal cells. Giving cyclosporine with or without mycophenolate mofetil or methotrexate after the transplant may stop this from happening. PURPOSE: This phase II trial is studying how well peripheral stem cell transplant works in treating patients with metastatic kidney cancer.