Active clinical trials for "Melanoma"

RATIONALE: Vaccines made from a person's white blood cells mixed with tumor proteins may make the body build an immune response to kill tumor cells. PURPOSE: Phase I/II trial to study the effectiveness of vaccine therapy in treating patients who have stage III or stage IV melanoma.

AMP-005 is a Phase 1b/2 clinical trial designed to evaluate whether the new drug, imexon, can be administered in combination with the approved drug, dacarbazine (DTIC), for the treatment of patients with stage III or IV inoperable melanoma. The Phase 1b part of the study is designed to determine whether the two drugs can be safely combined together, and the Phase 2 part of the study is designed to provide additional safety data and to gain an understanding of whether adding imexon to DTIC can improve the outcome for melanoma patients versus the findings from prior clinical studies of DTIC alone.

RATIONALE: Vaccines made from peptides may make the body build an immune response to kill tumor cells. PURPOSE: This randomized phase II trial is studying four different vaccines using melanoma peptides from cytotoxic T cells and helper T cells to see how well they work in treating patients with metastatic melanoma.

RATIONALE: Vaccines may make the body build an immune response to kill tumor cells. PURPOSE: This randomized phase II trial is studying immunization using two different gp100 protein vaccines to compare how well they work in treating patients with metastatic melanoma.

RATIONALE: Biological therapies, such as MDX-010, work in different ways to stimulate the immune system and stop tumor cells from growing. Vaccines made from gp100 peptides may make the body build an immune response to kill tumor cells. Combining the vaccines with Montanide ISA-51 may cause a stronger immune response and kill more tumor cells. It is not yet known whether monoclonal antibody therapy is more effective with or without vaccine therapy in treating advanced melanoma. PURPOSE: This randomized phase II trial is studying monoclonal antibody therapy alone to see how well it works compared to monoclonal antibody therapy, gp100 peptides, and Montanide ISA-51 in treating patients with stage IV melanoma.

The purpose of this study is to assess the antitumor activity and safety of the combination of talabostat and cisplatin in patients with metastatic melanoma.

This study is designed to assess the efficacy of a weekly treatment regimen of STA-4783 and paclitaxel in comparison to paclitaxel alone on tumor response in metastatic melanoma patients.

This Phase II study is designed to evaluate the anti-tumor activity of three dose groups of SB-485232 (0.01, 0.1, and 1.0 mg/kg/day) administered intravenously as a single agent in subjects with previously untreated metastatic melanoma.

This phase II trial is studying how well tipifarnib works in treating patients with metastatic malignant melanoma. Tipifarnib may stop the growth of tumor cells by blocking the enzymes necessary for tumor cell growth.

This study will examine the effectiveness and side effects of an experimental vaccine to prevent recurrence of melanoma. The likelihood of melanoma returning is higher in patients who have melanoma lesions deep in the skin, in patients who have had positive lymph nodes, and in patients who have had surgery for metastatic disease (cancer that has spread beyond the primary site). Melanoma tumors produce proteins called glycoprotein 100 (gp100) and melanoma-associated antigen recognized by T cells 1 (MART-1). Vaccination with specific pieces of these proteins (peptides) may boost the immune system's fight against the cancer. The vaccine injections are mixed with an oil-based substance called Montanide ISA-51, which is intended to increase the immune response to the peptide. Patients 16 years of age and older whose melanoma has been surgically removed and who are currently free of disease may be eligible for this study. Candidates will be screened with a physical examination and blood and urine tests. An electrocardiogram (EKG), x-rays and other imaging studies will be done if recent results are not available. Some candidates may require heart tests, such as a cardiac stress test or echocardiogram, or lung function tests. In addition, all candidates will be tested for human leukocyte antigen (HLA) tissue type; patients must be type human leukocyte antigens (HLA-A)*0201, the type on which this vaccine is based. Participants will be randomly assigned to receive one of four different vaccines to determine which peptides offer the best immunity. Each treatment course consists of two injections of the vaccines every 3 weeks for four times. The injections are given under the skin of the thigh. After every other treatment course (every 6 months), patients will undergo a series of x-rays and scans to look for tumor. The immunizations may continue for up to 12 months as long as the melanoma does not return. The injections are given at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Clinical Center. Patients are monitored for 1 hour after each injection and have blood tests and a physical examination to look for treatment side effects. Patients will be followed with blood tests every 12 weeks to monitor body functions. They will also undergo leukapheresis-a procedure to collect white blood cells-before starting treatment and about 3 to 4 weeks after the fourth vaccine to evaluate how the vaccines affect the action of the immune system cells. For this procedure, blood is drawn through a needle in the arm, similar to donating blood. The blood goes through a machine that separates out the lymphocytes (white blood cells), and the rest of the blood is returned through a needle in the other arm. Some patients may undergo a biopsy-surgical removal of a small piece of tissue under local anesthetic-of normal skin and tumor or lymph node tissue to examine the effects of the vaccines on the tumor immune cells. Patients whose disease returns during the first course of vaccine therapy will have surgery to remove the tumor and will continue to receive the vaccine treatment. Patients whose tumor returns after completing one course of therapy may receive a substance called interleukin-2 (IL-2), which can boost immune function against the tumor. interleukin-2 (IL-2) is given intravenously (through a small tube placed in a vein) every 8 hours for 4 days. This regimen is repeated after 10 to 14 days. Those who respond to interleukin-2 (IL-2) will have a third course of treatment after 2 months. Patients whose disease recurs after treatment will be taken off the study and will be referred back to their referring physician or to another study, if an appropriate one is available.