Active clinical trials for "Melanoma"

The purpose of this clinical study is to examine the safety, immunogenicity and clinical activity of the immunotherapeutic product GSK2302025A (also referred to as recPRAME + AS15 Antigen-Specific Cancer Immunotherapeutic [ASCI]) administered as a first line treatment in patients with unresectable and progressive metastatic cutaneous melanoma.

RATIONALE: Drugs used in chemotherapy, such as dacarbazine, work in different ways to stop the growth of tumor cells, either by killing the cells or by stopping them from dividing. Recombinant interferon alfa-2b may interfere with the growth of tumor cells. Giving interferon alfa-2b together with dacarbazine may be an effective treatment for primary uveal melanoma. PURPOSE: This phase II trial is studying how well giving dacarbazine together with recombinant interferon alfa-2b works in treating patients with primary uveal melanoma with genetic imbalance.

Primary: Phase Ib: To define the safety, tolerability and maximum tolerated dose (MTD) of lenvatinib administered in combination with dacarbazine. Phase II: To evaluate the safety and tolerability of lenvatinib administered in combination with dacarbazine, compared with dacarbazine alone. Secondary: -Phase II: To make a preliminary assessment of the efficacy of lenvatinib administered in combination with dacarbazine, compared with dacarbazine alone.

The purpose of this study is to find out what effects an experimental drug, called interleukin 21 or rIL-21, will have on malignant melanoma and whether these effects look promising compared to dacarbazine. In addition, this study will look at the side effects of rIL-21, and some special blood tests will be done to check the level of rIL-21 in the blood. This study will also look at previously removed melanoma tissue to determine which patients might benefit most from this treatment. This research is being done because currently there is no effective treatment for this type of cancer.

This study is being done to see if the investigators can help the immune system to work against melanoma. A dendritic cell is another type of white blood cell. It has most, if not all, of the proteins needed to make T cells work to destroy cancer cells. However, dendritic cells do not normally have the cancer proteins on their surface. The challenge then is to combine the antigens with dendritic cells to make a vaccine. The investigators think that the body's T cells might then react against the tumor and help destroy it. This study will see if altered dendritic cells will make T cells work against tumor cells. The dendritic cells will be made in a lab and will carry the antigens. These cells then will be injected under the skin. In this study, the investigators are trying to help the body make a stronger immune response against the cancer. The patient will get the same kind of dendritic cell vaccine used in the earlier study, but with one major difference. The dendritic cells will contain messenger-RNA (mRNA). Cells use mRNA to make proteins. The mRNA will be put into dendritic cells by a laboratory method called electroporation. The mRNA is never given to the patient directly. This mRNA will help the dendritic cell make a tumor antigen like what the cancer expresses. The dendritic cell can then put this tumor antigen on its surface so that the body could make a stronger immune response against the tumor.

The purpose of this clinical research study is to learn the pharmacokinetics of Ipilimumab when combined with Paclitaxel/Carboplatin or Dacarbazine

The combination of TMZ and DAC may effect dual modulation of DNA repair genes resulting in improved clinical response.

The purpose of this study is to investigate whether an investigational drug called sunitinib malate is safe and effective in treating metastatic melanoma in patients with KIT mutations. KIT is a gene that "codes for" (contains the genetic code that the body uses to make) a protein on the surface of cells in your body that is important in cell growth and cell division. The KIT protein seems to play a role in abnormal cell growth seen in acute leukemia, germ cell tumors, gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GIST), and certain melanomas. Melanomas that arise on acral skin (palms, soles, nail beds), mucosal membranes, and chronically sun damaged skin have recently been found to frequently contain mutations or increased copy numbers of the KIT gene. Your tumor tissue has previously been tested and has been found to contain abnormalities in the KIT gene. Sunitinib malate is drug that has been shown to inhibit the activity of the KIT protein. The FDA approved sunitinib in 2006 for patients with GIST. It has been shown that sunitinib malate works in these patients because of its activity against the KIT protein. The FDA also approved Sunitinib malate in 2006 for the treatment of metastatic kidney cancer, where its effectiveness is probably due to its ability to block a different set of proteins. Sunitinib malate has not been approved by the FDA for the treatment of metastatic melanoma.

Evaluate the antitumor activity of hu14.18-IL2 in the minimal residual disease setting. Evaluate the time to recurrence and overall survival of patients treated with hu14.18-IL2.

The purpose of this study is to find out how effective an investigational drug named ZK-Epo is against melanoma. Although ZK-Epo has been studied in the treatment of cancer, it is not approved for use in treating melanoma. This research is being done because currently there are only a limited number of treatment options for patients who have melanoma that has spread to distant organs. We expect each patient to be in this study for at least 2 cycles. One cycle lasts for 21 days. If their tumor does not grow after 2 cycles and they do not have any major side-effects, they may receive up to 6 cycles of ZK-Epo. If after they have received 6 cycles of ZK-Epo and their doctor determines that the tumor is continuing to shrink, they will continue treatment with ZK-Epo. The number of treatments the patient receives after 6 cycles will depend upon when their doctor feels there has been maximum tumor response (tumor shrinkage). Two treatments will be given beyond what their doctor considers the point of maximum shrinkage. We estimate that they will spend anywhere from 1 1/2 months to 5 months taking part in this study.