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. Injecting allovectin-7 into a person's melanoma cells may make the body build an immune response that will kill tumor cells. PURPOSE: Randomized phase III trial to compare the effectiveness of dacarbazine with or without immunotherapy in treating patients who have stage III or stage IV melanoma.

RATIONALE: Drugs used in chemotherapy use different ways to stop tumor cells from dividing so they stop growing or die. Hyperthermia therapy kills tumor cells by heating them to several degrees above body temperature. Combining hyperthermia with chemotherapy may kill more tumor cells. PURPOSE: Phase II trial to study the effectiveness of melphalan and whole-body hyperthermia in treating patients with advanced melanoma.

RATIONALE: Vaccines made from a person's white blood cells and melanoma cells may make the body build an immune response and kill the tumor cells. PURPOSE: Randomized phase I/II trial to study the effectiveness of vaccine therapy made from white blood cells and melanoma cells in treating patients with metastatic melanoma who are undergoing surgery for lymph node and tumor removal.

Randomized phase III trial to compare the effectiveness of hyperthermic isolated limb perfusion of melphalan with or without tumor necrosis factor in treating patients who have locally advanced melanoma of the arm or leg. Drugs used in chemotherapy use different ways to stop tumor cells from dividing so they stop growing or die. Heating melphalan to several degrees above body temperature and infusing it only to the area around the tumor may kill more tumor cells. It is not yet known whether combining melphalan with tumor necrosis factor is more effective than melphalan alone in treating melanoma.

RATIONALE: Drugs used in chemotherapy, such as everolimus, work in different ways to stop the growth of tumor cells, either by killing the cells or by stopping them from dividing. Everolimus may also stop the growth of melanoma by blocking blood flow to the tumor. PURPOSE: This phase II trial is studying how well everolimus works in treating patients with stage IV melanoma.

RATIONALE: Vaccines made from a person's white blood cells and a donor's tumor cells may help the body build an effective immune response to kill tumor cells. PURPOSE: This phase II trial is studying how well vaccine therapy works in treating patients with unresected stage III or stage IV melanoma.

RATIONALE: Vaccines may make the body build an immune response to kill tumor cells. PURPOSE: This phase II trial is studying how well vaccine therapy works in treating patients with stage III or stage IV melanoma 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 such as interleukin-2 and interferon alfa stimulate a person's white blood cells to kill cancer cells or may interfere with the growth of cancer cells. Combining chemotherapy with biological therapies may kill more tumor cells. PURPOSE: Phase II trial to study the effectiveness of temozolomide followed by sargramostim, interleukin-2, and interferon alfa in treating patients who have stage IV melanoma that cannot be treated with surgery.

RATIONALE: Drugs used in chemotherapy use different ways to stop tumor cells from dividing so they stop growing or die. PURPOSE: Phase II trial to study the effectiveness of E7070 in treating patients who have stage IV melanoma.

RATIONALE: Monoclonal antibodies can locate tumor cells and either kill them or deliver tumor-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 tumor cells. PURPOSE: Phase I trial to study the effectiveness of combining monoclonal antibody therapy and vaccine therapy in treating patients who have stage III or stage IV melanoma that has been removed during surgery.