Active clinical trials for "Lymphoma"

The primary purpose of this study is to determine if motexafin gadolinium may be an effective treatment for patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) or small lymphocytic lymphoma (SLL). Secondly, the duration of response and the time during which patients survive without chronic lymphocytic leukemia or small lymphocytic lymphoma worsening will be evaluated. Additionally, the patient's response to motexafin gadolinium will be compared to the response of the patient's cells in a laboratory to motexafin gadolinium.

RATIONALE: Bortezomib may stop the growth of cancer cells by blocking the enzymes necessary for their growth. The Epstein Barr virus can cause cancer and lymphoproliferative disorders. Ganciclovir is an antiviral drug that acts against the Epstein Barr virus. Giving ganciclovir together with bortezomib may kill more Epstein Barr virus-infected cancer cells. PURPOSE: This clinical trial is studying how well giving bortezomib together with ganciclovir works in treating patients with relapsed or refractory Epstein Barr virus-positive 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

RATIONALE: Monoclonal antibodies such as rituximab can locate cancer cells and either kill them or deliver cancer-killing substances to them without harming normal cells. Beta-glucan may increase the effectiveness of rituximab by making cancer cells more sensitive to the monoclonal antibody. PURPOSE: This phase I trial is studying the side effects and best dose of beta-glucan when given together with rituximab in treating young patients with relapsed or progressive lymphoma or leukemia or with lymphoproliferative disorder related to donor stem cell transplantation.

RATIONALE: Monoclonal antibodies such as rituximab can locate cancer cells and either kill them or deliver cancer-killing substances to them without harming normal cells. Vaccines made from a person's cancer cells may make the body build an immune response to kill cancer cells. Colony-stimulating factors such as GM-CSF increase the number of immune cells found in bone marrow and peripheral blood. It is not yet known whether combining rituximab and GM-CSF with vaccine therapy may cause a stronger immune response and kill more cancer cells. PURPOSE: This randomized phase III trial is studying giving rituximab and GM-CSF together with vaccine therapy and comparing it to giving rituximab and GM-CSF alone in treating patients with newly diagnosed, relapsed, or refractory B-cell non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.

Patients have a type of cancer called Hodgkin's lymphoma or non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, which has come back or not gone away or is at high risk for coming back after treatment, including the best treatment investigators know for this disease. Investigators are asking the patient to volunteer to be in a research study using a new experimental therapy consisting of special immune system cells called LMP2 specific cytotoxic T lymphocytes in combination with a special protein called a monoclonal antibody. Some patients with Hodgkin or non-Hodgkin Lymphoma show evidence of infection with the virus that causes infectious mononucleosis Epstein Barr virus (EBV) before or at the time of their diagnosis of the lymphoma. EBV is found in the cancer cells of up to half the patients with lymphoma, suggesting that it may play a role in causing lymphoma. The cancer cells infected by EBV are able to hide from the body's immune system and escape destruction. Investigators want to see if special white blood cells, called T cells, that have been trained to kill EBV infected cells can survive in the blood and affect the tumor. The investigators have used this sort of therapy to treat a different type of cancer that occurs after bone marrow and solid organ transplant called post transplant lymphoma. In this type of cancer the tumor cells have 9 proteins made by EBV on their surface. They grew T cells in the laboratory that recognized all 9 proteins and were able to prevent and treat post transplant lymphoma. However in Hodgkin disease and non-Hodgkin Lymphoma the tumor cells only express 2 EBV proteins. In a previous study investigators made T cells that recognized all 9 proteins and gave them to patients with Hodgkin disease. Some patients had a partial response to this therapy but no patients had a complete response. Investigators think one reason may be that many of the T cells reacted with proteins that were not on the tumor cells. They are now trying to find out if they can improve this treatment by growing T cells that only recognize one of the proteins expressed on Lymphoma cells called LMP-2. These special T cells are called LMP-2 specific cytotoxic T-lymphocytes (CTLs). In this study investigators also are trying to see if they can improve these results by treating patients first with a special protein called an antibody and then giving the EBV specific T cells. The reason for doing this is that EBV specific T cells have worked very well in bone marrow transplant patients to prevent and treat EBV cancers. These patients have very few of their own immune cells when they are given the trained T cells and therefore there is a lot of space for the trained cells to grow. Investigators hope that they can improve the effect of the trained T cells in Hodgkin disease and non-Hodgkin Lymphoma patients by first temporarily removing the patient's own T cells before giving the trained cells.

RATIONALE: Vaccines made from a person's cancer cells may make the body build an immune response to kill cancer cells. Vaccine therapy may be an effective treatment for non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. PURPOSE: Phase II trial to study the effectiveness of vaccine therapy following chemotherapy and peripheral stem cell transplantation in treating patients who have non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.

RATIONALE: Drugs used in chemotherapy use different ways to stop tumor cells from dividing so they stop growing or die. Combining chemotherapy with peripheral stem cell transplantation may allow the doctor to give higher doses of chemotherapy drugs and kill more tumor cells. It is not yet known if combination chemotherapy is more effective with or without peripheral stem cell transplantation in treating Hodgkin's Disease. PURPOSE: Randomized phase III trial to compare the effectiveness of combination chemotherapy with or without peripheral stem cell transplantation in treating men who have stage III or stage IV Hodgkin's disease.

High dose chemotherapy followed by transplantation of allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell with the use of Campath-1h, a monoclonal antibody that have a synergistic effect to chemotherapy with minimal toxicity. In addition Campath-1H can improve engraftment of donor cells through its immunosuppressive properties.

RATIONALE: Monoclonal antibodies can locate tumor cells and either kill them or deliver tumor-killing substances to them without harming normal cells. PURPOSE: Phase I trial to study the effectiveness of radiolabeled monoclonal antibody in treating patients who have relapsed or refractory non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.