Active clinical trials for "Melanoma"

RATIONALE: Drugs used in chemotherapy use different ways to stop tumor cells from dividing so they stop growing or die. Infusing chemotherapy to the tumor area only may kill more tumor cells and cause less damage to healthy tissues. PURPOSE: This phase II trial is studying isolated limb infusion of chemotherapy to see how well it works in treating patients with melanoma or soft tissue sarcoma of the arm or leg that cannot be removed by surgery.

RATIONALE: Drugs used in chemotherapy use different ways to stop tumor cells from dividing so they stop growing or die. Biological therapies use different ways to stimulate the immune system and stop cancer cell from growing. Combining more than one drug with different types of biological therapies may kill more tumor cells. PURPOSE: Phase II trial to study the effectiveness of combination chemotherapy plus biological therapy in treating patients who have metastatic melanoma.

This experiment will test the safety and effectiveness of a treatment for melanoma in which certain lymphocytes (a type of white blood cell) are taken from the patient, grown in the laboratory, and returned after the patient's immune system has been weakened with immune-suppressing drugs. Some patients will also receive interleukin-2 (IL-2), a drug that may enhance the activity of the re-infused lymphocytes. Patients with metastatic melanoma (melanoma whose tumor has spread) who have been treated unsuccessfully with gp100 vaccination may participate in this study. They will undergo apheresis or a tumor biopsy, or both, to collect lymphocytes. In apheresis, whole blood is drawn through a needle in the arm. A machine separates the blood components and removes the white cells. The rest of the blood is returned to the donor through a needle in the other arm. A biopsy is a surgical procedure to remove a small piece of tumor tissue. Several weeks before the lymphocytes are collected, patients will receive injections of growth colony stimulating factor (G-CSF) every day for five days. This drug stimulates white cell production, permitting as many cells as possible to be obtained during collection. The lymphocytes will then be grown in larger numbers in the laboratory. Seven days before the cells are re-infused, the patient is admitted to the hospital and a catheter (small tube) is placed in a large vein in the chest or neck. Two drugs, cyclophosphamide and fludarabine, are given through the tube. These drugs suppress the immune system so that it will not interfere with the work of the reinfused lymphocytes. The lymphocytes are then injected through the catheter over a 30-minute period. After the infusion, patients who receive IL-2 will be given the drug in a high dose over a 15-minute period every eight hours for up to five days. Patients whose condition does not permit high-dose IL-2, such as those with a heart condition or lung problem, may receive a low-dose regimen, with the drug given as a shot under the skin of the thigh or abdomen for five days followed by a 2-day break, continuing for a total of six weeks. These patients receive a higher dose the first week and then half that dose the next five weeks. Blood and tissue samples will be taken before and during the study to evaluate the size of the tumor and assess treatment. If, 3-5 weeks after therapy is completed, the patient's tumor has stabilized or shrunk, the entire treatment, except for chemotherapy, may be repeated two more times.

This is a study of a melanoma tumor antigen peptide vaccine. Peptides representing HLA-A201 restricted T cell epitopes of the melanoma antigens, MART-1, gp100 and tyrosinase will be administered emulsified in Incomplete Freund's Adjuvant, (IFA) to HLA-A201 patients with melanoma. The study is designed to evaluate the potential therapeutic role, immunologic effects and toxicity of repeated doses of this peptide vaccine administered subcutaneously. Immune reactivity to the peptide epitope will be monitored in all patients by analysis of melanoma-specific T cell precursors prior to and after immunization.

This is a phase I study of melanoma tumor antigen peptide vaccines. The nine amino acid peptides representing HLA-A2 restricted T cell epitope of the melanoma antigen, gp100 will be administered to patients emulsified in Incomplete Freund's Adjuvant, (IFA). The study is designed to evaluate the toxicity, immunologic effects and potential therapeutic role of repeated doses of gp100 peptide vaccines administered subcutaneously. Immune reactivity to the gp100 epitope peptides will be monitored in all patients by analysis of melanoma-specific T cell precursor frequency prior to and after immunization.

RATIONALE: Vaccines made from peptide 946 may make the body build an immune response to kill tumor cells. Combining these vaccines with proteins from the tetanus vaccine, and/or with either QS21 or Montanide ISA-51 may be an effective treatment for metastatic melanoma. PURPOSE: Randomized phase I trial to study the effectiveness of vaccines made from peptide 946 with or without tetanus peptide, QS21, or Montanide ISA-51 in treating patients with metastatic melanoma that cannot be surgically removed or with melanoma that is likely to recur.

Clinical trials, specifically focused on stage IV melanoma, are crucial in assessing the safety and efficacy of new treatments for this disease. These trials serve as fundamental instruments in determining whether emerging medications outperform standard therapies, providing compelling evidence to support wider implementation. The main goal is to thoroughly scrutinize trial completion rates and voluntary withdrawals among this particular group of patients.

This study is measuring the safety of the study drug, ADI-PEG 20, combined with immunotherapy drugs nivolumab and ipilimumab in treating patients with advanced uveal melanoma.

This is an open-label, multicenter, Phase Ib study to evaluate the safety and therapeutic activity of RO6874281 in combination with pembrolizumab. The study will consist of 3 parts: a safety run-in (Part I: Cohorts 1.1. and 1.2) and two expansion parts (Parts II and III). Part II will start once all participants in Cohort 1.1 have completed the observation period. Part III will start once all participants in Cohorts 1.1 and 1.2 have completed the observation period.

This phase II trial studies how well stereotactic body radiation therapy and aflibercept work in treating patients with uveal melanoma. Stereotactic body radiation therapy is a specialized radiation therapy that sends x-rays directly to the tumor using smaller doses over several days and may cause less damage to normal tissue. Aflibercept may stop the growth of tumor cells by blocking some of the enzymes needed for cell growth. Giving stereotactic body radiation therapy followed by aflibercept may work better in treating patients with uveal melanoma.