Active clinical trials for "Hematologic Neoplasms"

The proposed research study is to test the drug vorinostat, in a new use as an additional medication, with other standard treatments for the prevention of severe acute graft versus host disease (GVHD). If this treatment is safe and effective, when combined with a reduced intensity transplant, the research may achieve a more effective therapy for patients with high-risk, blood cell related cancers. All subjects will receive an identical, known treatment to test if the treatment is safe and effective (a phase II trial). For patients to take part they must have a high-risk, blood cell cancer, be suitable candidates to receive a reduced intensity transplant and have a matched, related donor. Adult subjects (age 18 years and older) will be considered as subjects provided, as detailed in the protocol, they meet additional criteria and are not excluded from participating. About fifty (50) subjects will be enrolled in this study at the University of Michigan. Patients who receive blood stem cell transplants (HSCT), also called bone marrow transplants, to treat their cancer are at risk for serious complications, which may sometimes be fatal. The more common, serious ones are relapse (return of their disease), body organ injury from the intensity of the chemotherapy given prior to their transplant, and a serious complication called graft versus host disease (GVHD). GVHD is a form of rejection, where the transplanted cells of the donor attack the recipient's body as foreign, and do damage to organs and tissues. To decrease the side effects of the chemotherapy given before a transplant, reduced intensity treatment plans(regimens)have recently been developed at a number of transplant centers. A decrease in the side effects of chemotherapy (called toxicities) has been achieved; however, this success with "less intensive" treatments has been partially offset by less successful results in controlling the patient's cancer. As mentioned above, GVHD is a form of transplant rejection. GVHD can affect the digestive system, skin, liver and other body systems. GVHD can increase the risk of infection. After a matched, related donor stem cell transplant, GVHD when severe, is a major cause of discomfort, organ damage, and even death. When a graft vs host reaction develops, but is kept under control, studies show there may be a beneficial graft versus tumor effect, helping to destroy tumor cells in the patient, and thus providing a more effective control of their cancer. The goal of this study is to try to maximize the potential benefits, of giving patients less intense chemotherapy to reduce the toxic effects, letting the graft vs host effect help in destroying tumor cells, but preventing acute severe GVHD by using the drug vorinostat, combined with standard medicines, to reduce the chance of serious GVHD-related complications.

The goal of this clinical research study is to see if ibandronate can help to slow the rate of bone loss that may occur in patients who have received a bone marrow transplant for blood cancer. This study plans to address the following hypotheses: The addition of Ibandronate initiated immediately after the transplantation will prevent bone loss in patients undergoing allogenic bone marrow transplantation (BMT) with underlying hematologic malignancies or hematologic disorders. BMT patients who require prolonged steroid and other immunosuppressive treatment for Graft versus Host Diseases(GVHD) have a higher rate of bone loss, which can be prevented or attenuated by Ibandronate. Specific objectives to test these hypotheses are: Primary Objective: 1. To prospectively compare the bone mineral density changes of lumbar spine, femoral neck and total hip between patients randomly assigned to ibandronate and control group over 12 months post bone marrow transplantation at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. Secondary Objectives: To measure and compare the accumulated level of steroid used in both treatment and control groups. To collect and compare the level of serum C-terminal telopeptide (CTX) in both treatment and control groups to monitor the bone turnover rate for the duration of the study. To conduct a cost-effectiveness analysis of participating patients for both outcomes on bone mineral density (measured data) and skeletal-related events (modeled data). To record incidence of bone fractures and the graft rate in both treatment and control groups.

Many patients with hematological malignancies (leukemia, lymphoma, multiple myeloma) cannot undergo hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) because they do not have a well matched donor. HSCT from partially matched family donors (haploidentical HSCT) is an option for most patients but has been associated with poor outcomes. This study was designed to test whether using an exact amount of a donor's lymphocytes (white cells) and dividing the transplant process into 2 steps, would increase overall survival by decreasing complications. The therapy is reduced intensity so it is targeted, but not limited to, patients over the age of 65 or those who have had previous transplants.

The purpose of this study is to determine the safety, pharmacokinetics and maximum tolerated dose of ABT-348 as monotherapy and when given in combination with azacitidine.

Study objectives To evaluate the safety of the echinocandin anidulafungin for prophylaxis or treatment of invasive fungal infections (IFI) in hematologic patients. Study design, Study conduct period Prospective, open label, phase II, one arm, single centre study October 2009 - September 2010 Study population Twenty adult patients (≥ 18 years) with a hematologic disorder and an indication for antifungal prophylaxis or therapy, but a relative contraindication for azoles or polyenes due to hepatic and renal dysfunction respectively Methods and Main Out-come Variables Main Outcome Parameter Safety: Adverse events and changes of important laboratory parameters with clinical impact will be reported. Secondary Outcome Parameter Efficacy: In therapeutically use the outcome will be categorized into success or failure. For patients receiving anidulafungin as prophylaxis the number and rate of breakthrough infections will be documented. Risk assessment Treatment related adverse effects as reported in the approved physician prescribing information (usually mild and with an incidence of < 5%). Treatment failure due to resistant pathogens. Expected benefit from this study IFI is a major cause of death among hematological patients, especially those undergoing high dose chemotherapy. It is conceivable that anidulafungin is a new treatment option for patients in whom azoles or polyenes are relatively contraindicated.

The goal of this clinical research study is to find the highest tolerable dose of 4'-thio-araC (thiarabine) that can be given to patients with advanced blood cancer. The safety of this drug will also be studied and 2 different dose schedules will be tested.

This study examines the effect of a small molecule inhibitor to the Sonic Hedgehog pathway on select hematologic malignancies.

The purpose of this study is: To establish the maximally tolerated dose (MTD) of intravenous busulfan (Busulfan®) in combination with fludarabine as conditioning regimen for transplantation with in-vivo T-cell depletion. To evaluate disease free and overall survival after this conditioning regimen in patients with advanced acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS). To evaluate potential pharmacogenomic determinants of toxicity of this regimen. To evaluate potential pharmacogenomic determinants of efficacy of this regimen.

Chemotherapy resistance is a major cause of death in patients with advanced hematologic malignancies. The proposed novel mechanism of action, non-cross resistance with chemotherapeutic agents currently used in the clinic, and lack of CPI-613-related myelosuppression preclinically and clinically to date make CPI-613 a suitable candidate for phase I clinical trial in these patients. The current trial is one of several clinical trials of CPI-613. Other clinical trials that are conducted in patients with solid tumors have already been initiated. The primary objective of this study is to determine the safety and MTD of CPI-613 when administered 2x weekly for 3 consecutive weeks. The secondary objective is to determine the PKs of CPI-613 following IV administration and to observe the anti-tumor effects of CPI-613, if any occur.

Subjects will be diagnosed with a hematological malignancy (cancer of the blood), which is unlikely to be cured with conventional non-transplant therapy. The best results of bone marrow transplant are obtained with the donor is a relative that has identical tissue type (HLA-type). These subjects will not have such a donor available but they will have a appropriately matching unrelated umbilical cord blood unit (UCB). However, the cord blood unit does not contain a high enough number of cells and may take longer to engraft (or grow). The purpose of this study is to determine whether the addition of stem cells from a family member to supplement a standard unrelated cord blood transplant is safe and will increase the success of the cord blood transplantation procedure. Subjects enrolled in this study will receive an unrelated cord blood transplant plus a haplo-identical (half-matched), T-cell depleted stem transplant from a related donor. The goal of this study is to determine whether the addition of the related stem cells accelerates bone marrow recovery and improves long-term disease free survival.