Active clinical trials for "Craniopharyngioma"

MEKTOVI (binimetinib) is an oral, highly selective reversible inhibitor of mitogen-activated extracellular signal regulated kinase 1 (MEK1) and MEK2. The biological activity of binimetinib that has been evaluated bith in vitro and in vivo in a wide variety of tumor types In this Phase II, the drug will be used to treat pediatric patients diagnosed with recurrent Adamantinomatous Craniopharyngioma including patients who have undergone surgery and/or radiation therapy.

Craniopharyngioma is a rare brain tumor that affects both children and adults. It arises in a region of the brain near the pituitary gland, visual pathways, and central blood vessels. Patients often present with headache, loss of vision or delayed growth. In some instances they may present with imbalance of water and salts in the body. The treatment for craniopharyngioma may be radical surgery or a combination of surgery and radiation therapy. In some instances surgery is not required. If the tumor cannot be completely removed, radiation therapy may be required. In this study we will use the most advanced form of proton therapy which is called intensity-modulated proton therapy. This is a newer form of radiation therapy which has a number of advantages over older forms of proton therapy and conventional radiation therapy using x-rays. The main goal of this study is to learn if proton therapy will effectively treat patients with craniopharyngioma brain tumors and reduce side effects compared to more traditional forms of radiation therapy.

This phase II trial studies how well vemurafenib and cobimetinib work in treating patients with BRAF V600E mutation positive craniopharyngioma. Vemurafenib and cobimetinib may stop the growth of tumor cells by blocking some of the enzymes needed for cell growth.

This study will be conducted in two phases. The first phase (phase 0) will be looking at patients with new or recurrent/ progressed craniopharyngioma tumors. These patients will be given one dose of tocilizumab before they have SOC surgery of their tumor. The objective of this phase is to see if drug reaches the tumor. If phase 0 is favorable and shows that drug is penetrating the tumor, the second phase of the study (feasibility phase) will open. Both phases will remain open concurrently and patients will be able to enroll on the Phase 0 then "roll over" and enroll on the feasibility phase. During the feasibility phase patients will be administered tocilizumab every two weeks for up to 13 cycles (approximately 1 year). Patients will be followed for up to 5 years in the feasibility phase.

The current study assesses the tolerability and efficacy of combination therapy with PD-1 (nivolumab) and pan-RAF-kinase (DAY101) inhibition for the treatment of children and young adults with craniopharyngioma.

Subjects with papillary craniopharyngioma harboring a BRAF mutation will be treated with a BRAF + MEK inhibitor (dabrafenib + trametinib) after informed consent. Study participants will be administered oral dabrafenib and trametinib until maximal tumor volume reduction assessed by MRI. Progression free survival, cognition, ophthalmologic status, hypothalamic status and quality of life will be assessed 1 year after initiation of study treatment

ACTEMRA (tocilizumab) is an IL-6 receptor antagonist used for the treatment of adult Rheumatoid Arthritis as well as Polyarticular (PJIA) and Systemic (SJIA) Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis. In this Phase II, the drug will be used to treat pediatric patients diagnosed with recurrent Adamantinomatous Craniopharyngioma including patients who have undergone surgery and/or radiation therapy.

The goal of this study is to determine the feasibility and safety of treating patients with a brain tumor known as craniopharyngioma with limited surgery and a 5mm clinical target volume margin in combination with proton therapy. Proton therapy will be indicated for patients with diagnosed craniopharyngioma who are not treated with radical surgery (gross-total resection). Irradiated patients will undergo a series of evaluations designed to evaluate the effects of proton therapy. Similar evaluations will be performed on patients treated with radical surgery. Proton therapy will include 30 treatment fractions administered 5 days per week. Weekly imaging will be a requirement to monitor for cyst expansion and target volume deformation.

The purpose of this study is to test the feasibility (ability to be done) of experimental technologies to determine a tumor's molecular makeup. This technology includes a genomic report based on DNA exomes and RNA sequencing that will be used to discover new ways to understand cancers and potentially predict the best treatments for patients with cancer in the future.

The purpose of this study is to test the usefulness of imaging with radiolabeled methionine in the evaluation of children and young adults with tumor(s). Methionine is a naturally occurring essential amino acid. It is crucial for the formation of proteins. When labeled with carbon-11 (C-11), a radioactive isotope of the naturally occurring carbon-12, the distribution of methionine can be determined noninvasively using a PET (positron emission tomography) camera. C-11 methionine (MET) has been shown valuable in the monitoring of a large number of neoplasms. Since C-11 has a short half life (20 minutes), MET must be produced in a facility very close to its intended use. Thus, it is not widely available and is produced only at select institutions with access to a cyclotron and PET chemistry facility. With the new availability of short lived tracers produced by its PET chemistry unit, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital (St. Jude) is one of only a few facilities with the capabilities and interests to evaluate the utility of PET scanning in the detection of tumors, evaluation of response to therapy, and distinction of residual tumor from scar tissue in patients who have completed therapy. The investigators propose to examine the biodistribution of MET in patients with malignant solid neoplasms, with emphasis on central nervous system (CNS) tumors and sarcomas. This project introduces a new diagnostic test for the noninvasive evaluation of neoplasms in pediatric oncology. Although not the primary purpose of this proposal, the investigators anticipate that MET studies will provide useful clinical information for the management of patients with malignant neoplasms.