Active clinical trials for "Medulloblastoma"

RATIONALE: Drugs used in chemotherapy use different ways to stop tumor cells from dividing so they stop growing or die. Giving a chemotherapy drug before surgery or radiation therapy may shrink the tumor so that it can be removed during surgery or radiation therapy. Peripheral stem cell transplant may be able to replace immune cells that were destroyed by chemotherapy or radiation therapy and allow doctors to give higher doses of chemotherapy. PURPOSE: This phase II trial is studying how well combination chemotherapy followed by surgery or radiation therapy and peripheral stem cell transplant work in treating patients with recurrent medulloblastoma or primitive neuroectodermal and pineal tumors.

RATIONALE: Radiation therapy uses high-energy x-rays to damage tumor cells. PURPOSE: Phase I trial to study the effectiveness of stereotactic radiosurgery in treating patients who have brain tumors.

This phase III trial is studying how well combination chemotherapy followed by second-look surgery and radiation therapy works in treating children with nonmetastatic medulloblastoma or primitive neuroectodermal tumor. Drugs used in chemotherapy use different ways to stop tumor cells from dividing so they stop growing or die. Radiation therapy uses high-energy x-rays to damage tumor cells. Combining more than one drug and combining chemotherapy with surgery and radiation therapy may kill more tumor cells.

This phase I trial is studying the side effects and best dose of erlotinib when given with temozolomide in treating young patients with recurrent or refractory solid tumors. Erlotinib may stop the growth of tumor cells by blocking the enzymes necessary for their growth. Drugs used in chemotherapy, such as temozolomide, work in different ways to stop tumor cells from dividing so they stop growing or die. Giving erlotinib with temozolomide may kill more tumor cells.

This phase II trial is studying irinotecan to see how well it works in treating children with refractory solid tumors. Drugs used in chemotherapy use different ways to stop tumor cells from dividing so they stop growing or die.

The purpose of this study is to determine whether a combination of a radiochemotherapy (vincristin) and a following maintenance chemotherapy (vincristin, cisplatin and CCNU) in adult patients with medulloblastoma is tolerable.

The presence of a highly selective blood-brain barrier (BBB) at the level of the brain capillary endothelium prevents chemotherapeutic agents from attaining therapeutic concentrations at the target site. RMP-7 is a synthetic bradykinin analog which specifically binds to B2 receptors expressed on the brain capillary endothelial cells and preferentially increases capillary permeability within CNS tumors. Carboplatin is an anticancer agent with preclinical and clinical antitumor activity against a variety of brain tumors. A pediatric phase I trial of the combination of RMP-7 and carboplatin will be conducted to determine the maximum tolerated dose of RMP-7 in children with refractory brain tumors.

This randomized phase III trial studies flexible administration of filgrastim after combination chemotherapy to see how well it works compared to fixed administration of filgrastim in decreasing side effects of chemotherapy in younger patients with cancer. Cancer chemotherapy frequently results in neutropenia (low blood counts) when patients are susceptible to severe infections. A medicine called G-CSF (filgrastim) stimulates bone marrow and daily filgrastim shots are commonly used to shorten neutropenic periods and decrease infections after chemotherapy. Since filgrastim is customarily used on a fixed schedule starting early after chemotherapy and there are data that early doses may not be needed, this study tests new flexible schedule of filgrastim to optimize its use by reducing the number of painful shots, cost of treatment, and filgrastim side effects in children with cancer receiving chemotherapy.

Toxicities related to pediatric cancer treatment can lead to significant illness, organ damage, treatment delays, increased health care cost, and decrease in quality of life. Such toxicities are largely due to tissue damage sustained by chemotherapy, and strategies designed to limit such cellular damage to normal tissues may reduce therapy-related morbidity and mortality. In addition to their in vitro and in vivo anti-cancer effects, naturally occurring soy isoflavones have anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidant properties, and have been shown to reduce side effects of therapy in adult oncology clinical trials. This study will examine the effect of genistein, the major isoflavone component in soybeans and the most extensively studied of the soy isoflavones, on short-term side effects of myelosuppressive chemotherapy in pediatric cancer patients. Subjects will be randomized to receive either: a) 30 mg genistein daily throughout chemotherapy Cycles 1 and 2 and placebo during chemotherapy Cycles 3 and 4; or b) placebo daily during chemotherapy Cycles 1 and 2 and 30 mg genistein daily during chemotherapy Cycles 3 and 4. Investigators hypothesize that subjects will have fewer short-term therapy-related side effects during cycles of chemotherapy given in conjunction with genistein supplementation than cycles given with placebo.

This clinical trial studies yoga therapy in treating patients with malignant brain tumors. Yoga therapy may improve the quality of life of patients with brain tumors