Active clinical trials for "Myelodysplastic Syndromes"

RATIONALE: Umbilical cord blood transplantation may allow doctors to give higher doses of chemotherapy or radiation therapy and kill more cancer cells. PURPOSE: This phase II trial is studying allogeneic umbilical cord blood transplantation to see how well it works when given with chemotherapy or radiation therapy in treating patients with high-risk hematologic cancer.

RATIONALE: Drugs used in chemotherapy use different ways to stop cancer cells from dividing so they stop growing or die. PURPOSE: Phase I trial to study the effectiveness of MS-275 in treating patients who have hematologic cancer.

RATIONALE: Drugs used in chemotherapy use different ways to stop cancer cells from dividing so they stop growing or die. Peripheral stem cell transplantation may allow the doctor to give higher doses of chemotherapy drugs and kill more cancer cells. Isotretinoin may help cancer cells develop into normal white blood cells. PURPOSE: Phase I/II trial of topotecan, fludarabine, cytarabine, and filgrastim followed by peripheral stem cell transplantation or isotretinoin in treating patients who have acute myeloid leukemia, myelodysplastic syndrome, or recurrent or refractory acute lymphocytic leukemia.

RATIONALE: Drugs used in chemotherapy use different ways to stop cancer cells from dividing so they stop growing or die. PURPOSE: Phase I trial to study the effectiveness of dolastatin 10 in treating patients who have refractory or relapsed acute leukemia, chronic myelogenous leukemia in blast phase, or myelodysplastic syndrome.

RATIONALE: Drugs used in chemotherapy use different ways to stop tumor cells from dividing so they stop growing or die. Bone marrow transplantation may allow the doctor to give higher doses of chemotherapy drugs and kill more tumor cells. PURPOSE: Phase II trial to study the effectiveness of combination chemotherapy plus donor bone marrow transplantation in treating patients who have hematologic cancer.

Cancers of the blood, sometimes referred to as hematologic malignancies, are disorders of bone marrow cells that lead to the failure of the normal function of bone marrow and the uncontrolled growth of cancerous cells in the bone marrow. These cancerous cells can spill over into the bloodstream and affect other organs causing widespread symptoms. The disease is life threatening because it blocks the normal function of the marrow, which is to produce red cells (preventing anemia), white cells (preventing infection), and platelets (preventing progression). Bone marrow transplants are a potential form of therapy for patients with hematologic malignancies. However, BMT is a complicated procedure and can be associated with dangerous side effects. In this study researchers are attempting to find ways to reduce the complications of BMT, so that it would be possible to use it more safely and can be offered more patients. In order to do this, researchers are developing new techniques to make BMT safer. It requires making small changes to the standard procedure, which may improve the outcome. The experimental procedures researchers are evaluating are: <TAB>T-cell depleted peripheral blood progenitor cell (PBPC) transplantation <TAB> Cyclosporine given immediately after the transplant <TAB>Add-back of donor lymphocytes Patients undergoing these experimental techniques must be monitored closely to see if any benefit or harmful effects will occur. Information gathered from this study can be used to develop further research studies and potential new therapies for hematologic malignancies.

The 5 q minus syndrome is a condition that occurs due to a missing segment of chromosome 5 in the normal genetic make-up of the cells responsible for forming blood cells. The condition causes patients to have the inability to make blood normally. Many patients with this syndrome need transfusions of red blood cells, platelets, and/or white blood cells. Low levels of platelets may cause the patient to bleed easily and low levels of whit blood cells make the patient susceptible to infections. A small number of patients with 5 q minus syndrome develop leukemia, which is often untreatable with chemotherapy. Researchers believe that one of the genes missing in 5 q minus syndrome is the gene responsible for making folic acid active in the body. Folic acid is a vitamin required for normal blood production. The purpose of this study to test the effectiveness of a drug called leucovorin for the treatment of 5 q minus syndrome. Leucovorin is an active form of the vitamin folic acid that does not require the missing genes to activate it. Patients participating in this study may or may not improve with leucovorin treatment. However, the study will improve researchers understanding of the disease and may lead other potential therapies for the disease.

RATIONALE: Drugs used in chemotherapy use different ways to stop cancer cells from dividing so they stop growing or die. Combining more than one drug may kill more cancer cells. PURPOSE: Phase I trial to study the effectiveness of fludarabine, carboplatin, and topotecan in treating patients who have relapsed or refractory acute leukemia or advanced myelodysplastic syndrome.

To evaluate if HLA-mismatched, unrelated-donor umbilical cord blood stem and progenitor cell units (UCBU) offered a clinically acceptable alternative to matched unrelated-donor allogeneic bone marrow for transplantation with 180-day disease free survival as the endpoint. HLA typing was performed using DNA-base high resolution methods to determine HLA alleles. Patients with "true" HLA 3/6 and 4/6 matches were evaluated. In addition, a separate study in adults addressed the problem of limited cell dose and engraftment failure. The study was not planned as a randomized comparative clinical trial. Instead, it is a phase II/III efficacy study.

This phase I trial studies the side effects and best dose of PLX51107 and how well it works with azacitidine in treating patients with acute myeloid leukemia or myelodysplastic syndrome. PLX51107 may stop the growth of cancer cells by blocking some of the enzymes needed for cell growth. Drugs used in chemotherapy, such as azacitidine, work in different ways to stop the growth of cancer cells, either by killing the cells, by stopping them from dividing, or by stopping them from spreading. Giving PLX51107 and azacitidine may work better than azacitidine alone in treating patients with acute myeloid leukemia or myelodysplastic syndrome.