Active clinical trials for "Colorectal Neoplasms"

This study is an open-label study. It has two stages. Stage 1 is a dose escalation phase of the study to determine and evaluate the safety and tolerability of repeated treatments with a genetically engineered herpes simplex virus NV1020 administered locoregionally to the liver. Stage 2 is to evaluate the dose found in Stage 1 to be "optimally tolerated". Stage 2 is to assess the efficacy of the optimally tolerated dose of NV1020 by itself and in combination with second-line chemotherapy. Assignment to Stage 1 or Stage 2 of the study is determined by when the patient enters the study.

RATIONALE: Monoclonal antibodies, such as cetuximab, can locate tumor cells and either kill them or deliver tumor-killing substances to them without harming normal cells. 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 cetuximab and irinotecan in treating patients who have advanced colorectal cancer that has not responded to previous treatment.

Positron Emission Tomography (PET scanning) is performed using a total dose of less than 50 mRad per patient visit. Fludeoxyglucose F 18 (FDG) is injected intravenously over 2 min. Initial dynamic images will be obtained over the heart. Emission imaging will work from the midcervical region down to the perineal region. For CEA scanning, radiolabeled antibody, arcitumomab (IMMU-4), is injected intravenously over 5 min. A single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) transmission scan is performed over the same regions as the emission scans. Total dose from transmission scans should be no more than 20 mRad per patient visit. Patients then undergo exploratory laparotomy performed by two surgeons, one blinded to the results of the CEA-Scan and PET scan. At the completion of all exploration, all identified disease is biopsied for pathologic analysis and any resectable disease is removed. Patients are followed every 3 months for 1 year, every 6 months for the second year, and then after 3 years.

RATIONALE: Vaccines made from a peptide may make the body build an immune response and kill tumor cells. PURPOSE: Randomized phase I trial to study the effectiveness of vaccine therapy in treating patients who have metastatic cancer that has not responded to previous therapy.

RATIONALE: Drugs used in chemotherapy use different ways to stop tumor cells from dividing so they stop growing or die. Combining more than one drug and giving them in different ways may kill more tumor cells. It is not yet known which chemotherapy regimen is most effective for colorectal cancer that has spread to the liver. PURPOSE: Randomized phase III trial to compare the effectiveness of combination chemotherapy with or without isolated hepatic perfusion with melphalan in treating patients who have colorectal cancer that has spread to the liver.

RATIONALE: Screening tests may help doctors detect cancer cells early and plan more effective treatment for cancer. New diagnostic procedures such as computed tomographic colonography may provide a less invasive method of identifying patients who have colon cancer. PURPOSE: Diagnostic and screening trial to compare the effectiveness of barium enema, computed tomographic colonography, and colonoscopy in detecting of colon cancer.

This multi-center photodynamic therapy study plans to treat patients with large tumors in any superficial location, sarcoma, tumors of oral/oro-pharyngeal cavity, tumors with extensive pelvic involvement, or liver metastasis. The treatment is limited to patients that have failed to respond to currently approved methods of treatment. The study involves a single, intravenous administration of an investigational drug, LS11 (previously studied in approximately 80 cancer patients) and the placement of a novel, flexible light delivery catheter inside the tumor by a minor surgical procedure. The activation of LS11 by the light delivery catheter over a period of 1-24 hrs may result in destruction of tumor tissue.

RATIONALE: Drugs used in chemotherapy use different ways to stop tumor cells from dividing so they stop growing or die. PURPOSE: Clinical trial to study the effectiveness of oxaliplatin in treating patients who have locally advanced or metastatic colorectal cancer that has been previously treated.

RATIONALE: Drugs used in chemotherapy use different ways to stop tumor cells from dividing so they stop growing or die. Biological therapies such as gefitinib may interfere with the growth of the tumor cells and slow the growth of colorectal cancer. Combining chemotherapy with gefitinib may kill more tumor cells. PURPOSE: Phase I/II trial to compare the effectiveness of chemotherapy with or without gefitinib in treating patients who have metastatic or locally recurrent colorectal cancer.

RATIONALE: Embolization blocks blood flow to part of an organ and/or tumor. Blocking the portal vein on one side of the liver may cause the opposite side of the liver to increase in size and decrease the risk of liver failure following surgery. PURPOSE: Phase II trial to study the effectiveness of portal vein embolization in treating patients who have liver metastases from primary colorectal cancer.