Active clinical trials for "Leukemia, Myelomonocytic, Acute"

RATIONALE: Beclomethasone dipropionate may be effective in preventing acute graft-versus-host disease in patients undergoing a stem cell transplant for hematologic cancer. PURPOSE: This randomized phase II trial is studying how well beclomethasone dipropionate works in preventing acute graft-versus-host disease in patients undergoing a donor stem cell transplant for hematologic cancer.

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the level of a specific protein (PTEN) in the cancer cells of chronic myelomonocytic leukemia (CMML) patients. This protein might be involved in the transformation from normal blood cells to leukemia cells. The PTEN protein has not been investigated in CMML specifically but it has been discovered in closely related cancers. If this study demonstrates an abnormality in this protein, future testing will be designed to evaluate the genetic abnormality that resulted in lack of the normal presence of this protein. The goal is that the results of this study will help to develop new drugs and strategies to treat the future patients with CMML by understanding the abnormality of the disease at the cellular and molecular levels. The results of this study can also be utilized by future studies to develop individualized treatment to patients who have abnormal levels of this protein.

This randomized phase II trial studies how well decitabine works when given together with daunorubicin hydrochloride and cytarabine in treating patients with acute myeloid leukemia. Drugs used in chemotherapy, such as decitabine, daunorubicin hydrochloride, and cytarabine, work in different ways to stop the growth of cancer cells, either by killing the cells or by stopping them from dividing. Decitabine may help daunorubicin hydrochloride and cytarabine kill more cancer cells by making them more sensitive to the drugs. It is not yet known whether low-dose decitabine is more effective than high-dose decitabine when giving together with daunorubicin hydrochloride and cytarabine in treating acute myeloid leukemia.

In a phase I study the investigators plan to investigate safety and toxicity of lenalidomide in patients with Chronic Myelomonocytic Leukemia (CMML). A phase II study will be started once an optimal dose has been found. The primary endpoint will concern the efficacy of lenalidomide in patients with CMML according to the WHO diagnostic criteria.

This randomized phase III trial is studying how well Caphosol rinse works in preventing mucositis in young patients undergoing autologous or donor stem cell transplant. Supersaturated calcium phosphate (Caphosol) rinse may be able to prevent mucositis, or mouth sores, in patients undergoing stem cell transplant.

This pilot research trial studies biomarkers in bone marrow samples from pediatric patients with high risk acute myeloid leukemia. Studying samples of bone marrow from patients with cancer in the laboratory may help doctors identify and learn more about biomarkers related to cancer.

This research study is studying identification of de novo Fanconi anemia in younger patients with newly diagnosed acute myeloid leukemia. Studying samples of tissue from patients with cancer in the laboratory may help doctors identify and learn more about biomarkers related to Fanconi anemia in patients with acute myeloid leukemia.

This laboratory study is looking into biomarkers in samples from younger patients with acute myeloid leukemia. Studying samples of bone marrow from patients with cancer in the laboratory may help doctors learn more about changes that occur in DNA and identify biomarkers related to cancer

Chronic Myelomonocytic Leukemia (CMML) is the most frequent of myelodysplastic/myeloproliferative syndromes, as defined by the WHO classification of myeloid malignancies. The median age at diagnosis is around 70 years with a strong male predominance. CMML is a clonal disease of the bone marrow hematopoietic stem cell mainly characterized by persistent monocytosis (>1x109/L) and the presence of immature dysplastic granulocytes in the peripheral blood of CMML patients. Allogeneic stem cell transplantation (ASCT) remains the only curative option in CMML. However, CMML patients are rarely eligible for this kind of therapy, mainly due to their advanced age. The gold standard treatment of CMML thus remains hydroxyurea, which is usually initiated when the disease becomes proliferative, and demethylating agents, which could be efficient in the most aggressive forms of CMML. Nevertheless, the pathogenesis of CMML remains poorly understood and new therapies are urgently needed for patients in treatment failure. In recent years, a large numbers of gene mutations have been discovered in CMML, none of which are specific of this entity, as they can be encountered with different frequencies in other myeloid neoplasms. These mutated genes encode signaling molecules (NRAS, KRAS, CBL, JAK2, FLT3 and several members of the Notch pathway), epigenetic regulators (TET2, ASXL1, EZH2, IDH1, IDH2,.) and splicing factors (SF3B1, SRSF2, ZRSF2). Mutations in the transcription regulators RUNX1, NPM1 and TP53 have also been reported in CMML. However, the role of these mutations in leukemogenesis is still unclear. CMML is also characterized by defects in monocyte to macrophage differentiation. These defects in monocyte differentiation can be attributed to the presence of immature dysplastic granulocytes that secrete high levels of alpha-defensins HNP1-3 that antagonize the purinergic receptor P2RY6 in CMML patients. These CD14-/CD15+/CD24+ immature granulocytes that belong to the same clone than the leukemic monocytes seem to have immunosuppressive properties ressembling those of the myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDCS) described in solid tumours. Whether these immature granulocytes contribute to autoimmune manifestations or immunoescape and progression of CMML is a conendrum and remains to be determined. In this context, the proposed project aims at identifying news insights into the pathophysiology of CMML through a better definition of the phenotype and function of monocytes and immature granulocytes that characterize this pathology.

To measure the rate of bone marrow release and the lifespan of classical monocytes in the peripheral blood of patients with a chronic myelomonocytic leukemia