Active clinical trials for "Hodgkin Disease"

This research is being done to study a combination of Brentuximab vedotin and Rituximab for the treatment of relapsed Hodgkin's Lymphoma (HL).

This study uses a drug called dasatinib to produce an anti-cancer effect called large granular lymphocyte cellular expansion. Large granular lymphocytes are blood cells known as natural killer cells that remove cancer cells. Researchers think that dasatinib may cause large granular lymphocyte expansion to happen in patients who have received a blood stem cell transplant (SCT) between 3 to 15 months after the blood SCT. In this research study, researchers want to find how well dasatinib can be tolerated, the best dose to take of dasatinib and to estimate how often large granular lymphocytic cellular expansion happens at the best dose of dasatinib.

The study hypothesis is that lenalidomide and romidepsin (and dexamethasone for patients with myeloma) will have an acceptable toxicity profile and that in combination will have sufficient activity in the target population (including those previously refractory to HDACi monotherapy) to warrant further investigation.

Background: Allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allotransplant) has been used to treat many kinds of cancer that develop in cells from the blood or immune system. After allotransplant, donor cells take over production of the recipient s blood and immune cells, and donor immune cells can directly attack and control tumor. However, for cancers that do not respond to allotransplant, there are no proven cures. A single treatment with radiation can improve the potency of immune-cell therapies. This is probably because the tumor tissue is damaged in a way that new tumor proteins are exposed, attracting immune cells to the tumor. By giving only a single dose of radiation, the immune cells that are attracted to the tumor are allowed to survive and function in their usual way, traveling throughout the body and educating other immune cells to recognize tumor, and to activate and expand in order to kill the tumor cells. Some research has shown that radiation may have a widespread effect on stimulating the immune system, educating immune cells to recognize and control tumors that have not been radiated. Objectives: - To determine whether a single treatment of radiation will help donor immune cells control cancer after allotransplant without causing excessive side effects. Eligibility: Recipients: Individuals 18 years of age and older who have blood cancers that have not responded to allotransplant. Donors: Healthy individuals 18 years of age and older who were previous allotransplant donors for one of the study recipients. Design: Donors will provide additional blood immune cells, called lymphocytes, through apheresis. Apheresis involves drawing blood, separating out the lymphocytes, and returning the rest of the blood to the donor. Recipients will receive a single dose of radiation to the greatest amount of tumor that can be irradiated safely. Researchers will intentionally leave some tumor that will not be radiated in order to evaluate whether there is a widespread response to the treatment. There are two treatment arms on the study. Arm 1: Study participants who have donor lymphocytes available and who have not had major complications from the allotransplant will be given a dose of donor cells after they receive radiation, to provide an additional boost to the donor immune response. Arm 2: Study participants who cannot receive donor lymphocytes because their donor is not available, they received an allotransplant from a partially matched relative, or they have had significant complications from the allotransplant - will receive radiation without additional donor lymphocytes. All recipients will be followed closely for side effects and for tumor response to radiation with or without donor lymphocytes. Additional tests will be performed, including tumor biopsies, bone marrow samples, and blood draws, in order to study the immune effects of radiation and donor lymphocytes. A separate, control group of allotransplant recipients will not receive radiation. This group will include participants whose transplant doctors plan to use donor lymphocyte therapy alone to control cancer progression. This group will donate blood immune cells through blood draws and apheresis. These cells will be examined to study the immune effects of receiving donor lymphocytes without radiation.

Patients are being asked to participate in this study because they have a cancer in their blood (such as leukemia or lymphoma) or myelodysplastic/myeloproliferative (pre-leukemia). We suggest a treatment that might help them live longer without disease than other treatment plans would. This treatment is known as a stem cell transplant. We believe this may help the patient as it allows us to give much stronger doses of drugs and radiation to kill the diseased cells than we could give without the transplant. We also think that the healthy cells may help fight any diseased cells left after the transplant. Stem Cells are special "mother" cells that are found in the bone marrow (the spongy tissue inside bones), although some are also found in the bloodstream (peripheral blood). As they grow, they become either white blood cells which fight infection, red blood cells which carry oxygen and remove waste products from the organs and tissues or platelets, which enable the blood to clot. For the transplant to take place, we will collect these stem cells from a "donor" (a person who agrees to donate these cells) and give them to the patient. The patient has a type of blood cell cancer or other blood problem that is very hard to cure with standard treatments and they will receive a stem cell transplant (SCT). If they have a brother or sister that is a perfect match and agrees to donate, the stem cells will come from him/her. Before the transplant, two very strong drugs plus total body irradiation will be given to the patient (pre-conditioning). This treatment will kill most of the blood-forming cells in the bone marrow. We will then give the patient the healthy stem cells. Once these healthy stem cells are in the bloodstream they will move to the bone marrow (graft) and begin producing blood cells that will eventually mature into healthy red blood cells, white blood cells and platelets. Also, we will ask permission to draw blood from the patient so that we can measure the number of certain blood cells called T regulatory cells. T regulatory cells are special immune cells that can control or regulate the body's immune response. We want to determine whether T regulatory cells are important participants in graft versus host disease (GVHD), infection and relapse. In GVHD, certain cells from the donated marrow or blood (the graft) attack the body of the transplant patient (the host). GVHD can affect many different parts of the body. The skin, eyes, stomach and intestines are affected most often. GVHD can range from mild to life-threatening. We do not know whether T regulatory cells can modify these conditions. We want to measure these T regulatory cells and learn if these cells do influence these conditions. If we learn that T regulatory cells do affect these conditions, then it may be possible to modify these cells for the benefit of transplant patients.

The purpose of this research study is to determine the effectiveness and safety of Avastin when combined with standard chemotherapy for Hodgkin lymphoma. Avastin works differently than standard chemotherapy drugs. It is a type of protein called an antibody which binds to a substance called VEGF(Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor). VEGF stimulates the growth of the blood vessels that feed tumors and encourages tumor cell growth. VEGF is produced in excess by Hodgkin lymphoma cells, and is associated with a poorer outcome in patients with Hodgkin lymphoma. When the activity of VEGF is interrupted in multiple other cancer types, the blood vessels around the tumor cells die resulting in less nutrient delivery and death to the tumor. Blocking of VEGF has also been shown to improve delivery of chemotherapy to cancer cells, making standard chemotherapy work better. This trial uses Avastin in combination with standard chemotherapy with the goal of improving the cure rate over chemotherapy alone.

RATIONALE: Giving chemotherapy and total-body irradiation (TBI) before a donor peripheral blood stem cell transplant helps stop the growth of cancer cells and helps stop the patient's immune system from rejecting the donor's stem cells. When the healthy stem cells from a donor are infused into the patient they will help the patient's bone marrow make stem cells, red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets. Giving colony-stimulating factors, such as filgrastim (G-CSF) and plerixafor, to the donor helps the stem cells move (mobilization) from the bone marrow to the blood so they can be collected and stored. PURPOSE: This clinical trial is studying giving plerixafor and filgrastim together for mobilization of donor peripheral blood stem cells before a peripheral blood stem cell transplant in treating patients with hematologic malignancies

MGCD0103 is an experimental drug that belongs to a class of drugs known as the histone deacetylase inhibitors, which may restore normal control in cancer cells by affecting the genes and proteins that are being made. Laboratory tests show that this new investigational anti-cancer drug can slow down the growth of human cancer cells in mice; two clinical research studies are currently being performed in humans with cancer and a similar study is being performed in patients with the same disease. The purpose of this study is to find out what effect the experimental drug MGCD0103 has on patients with relapsed and refractory Hodgkin's lymphoma.

Patients who have relapsed or refractory large B-cell lymphoma are being asked to take part in this study. The purpose of this study is to find out what effects (good and bad) the drug thalidomide has on patients and the lymphoma.

This phase II trial is studying how well CCI-779 works in treating patients with relapsed or refractory chronic lymphocytic leukemia. Drugs used in chemotherapy, such as CCI-779, work in different ways to stop cancer cells from dividing so they stop growing or die