Active clinical trials for "Medulloblastoma"

This randomized phase III trial studies different chemotherapy and radiation therapy regimens to compare how well they work in treating young patients with newly diagnosed, previously untreated, high-risk medulloblastoma. Drugs used in chemotherapy, such as vincristine sulfate, cisplatin, cyclophosphamide, and carboplatin, work in different ways to stop the growth of tumor cells, either by killing the cells, by stopping them from dividing, or by stopping them from spreading. Giving more than one drug (combination chemotherapy) may kill more tumor cells. Radiation therapy uses high-energy x-rays to kill tumor cells. Carboplatin may make tumor cells more sensitive to radiation therapy. It is not yet known which chemotherapy and radiation therapy regimen is more effective in treating brain tumors.

This randomized phase III trial is studying two different combination chemotherapy regimens to compare how well they work in treating young patients with newly diagnosed supratentorial primitive neuroectodermal tumors or high-risk medulloblastoma when given before additional intense chemotherapy followed by peripheral blood stem cell rescue. It is not yet known which combination chemotherapy regimen is more effective when given before a peripheral stem cell transplant in treating supratentorial primitive neuroectodermal tumors or medulloblastoma.

This randomized phase III trial is studying how well standard-dose radiation therapy works compared to reduced-dose radiation therapy in children 3-7 years of age AND how well standard volume boost radiation therapy works compared to smaller volume boost radiation therapy when given together with chemotherapy in treating young patients who have undergone surgery for newly diagnosed standard-risk medulloblastoma. Radiation therapy uses high-energy x-rays to damage tumor cells. Drugs used in chemotherapy, such as vincristine, cisplatin, lomustine, and cyclophosphamide, work in different ways to stop tumor cells from dividing so they stop growing or die. Giving radiation therapy with chemotherapy after surgery may kill any remaining tumor cells. It is not yet known whether standard-dose radiation therapy is more effective than reduced-dose radiation therapy when given together with chemotherapy after surgery in treating young patients with medulloblastoma.

The purpose of this study is to test the usefulness of imaging with radiolabeled methionine in the evaluation of children and young adults with tumor(s). Methionine is a naturally occurring essential amino acid. It is crucial for the formation of proteins. When labeled with carbon-11 (C-11), a radioactive isotope of the naturally occurring carbon-12, the distribution of methionine can be determined noninvasively using a PET (positron emission tomography) camera. C-11 methionine (MET) has been shown valuable in the monitoring of a large number of neoplasms. Since C-11 has a short half life (20 minutes), MET must be produced in a facility very close to its intended use. Thus, it is not widely available and is produced only at select institutions with access to a cyclotron and PET chemistry facility. With the new availability of short lived tracers produced by its PET chemistry unit, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital (St. Jude) is one of only a few facilities with the capabilities and interests to evaluate the utility of PET scanning in the detection of tumors, evaluation of response to therapy, and distinction of residual tumor from scar tissue in patients who have completed therapy. The investigators propose to examine the biodistribution of MET in patients with malignant solid neoplasms, with emphasis on central nervous system (CNS) tumors and sarcomas. This project introduces a new diagnostic test for the noninvasive evaluation of neoplasms in pediatric oncology. Although not the primary purpose of this proposal, the investigators anticipate that MET studies will provide useful clinical information for the management of patients with malignant neoplasms.

QARIN 1 is a study of [18F]DPA-714 Translocation Protein (TSPO) Positron Emission Tomography (PET) for longitudinal, quantitative assessment of brain neuroinflammation following whole brain radiation therapy. This TSPO PET, uses a radioactive tracer. An optional MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) will also be performed to monitor brain microstructure damages induced by neuroinflammation. Primary Objectives Assessment of temporal and regional variability of uptake of translocator protein (TSPO) positron emission tomography (PET) tracer. Regional variability will be assessed in medial temporal lobe, frontal lobe, and in white matter Temporal variability will be assessed by scanning each subject four-times: at baseline (before or within 2 weeks of start of radiation therapy), before start of chemotherapy, at 1 year from the initiation of the radiation therapy, and at 1.5-2 years from the initiation of the radiation therapy Correlation of radiation dose in specific brain regions with radiation induced neuroinflammation as measured by uptake of TSPO PET tracer. Exploratory Objectives Assessment of radiation-induced brain microstructure injuries (RIBMI) in specific brain regions (medial temporal lobe, frontal lobe, and in white matter) using advanced magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) techniques. Association of radiation dose with MRI measures of RIBMI in these specific brain regions. Association of PET measures of RIN with MRI measures of RIBMI. Association of PET measure of RIN and MRI measures of RIBMI in specific regions of interest (ROI) with specific domain of neuro-cognition. For example, to investigate whether PET measure of RIN and MRI measures of RIBMI in hippocampal ROI have strongest association with episodic memory; whether frontal lobe cortical ROI are associated with attention and executive function. Association of a novel MRI based technique for assessment of RIN with TSPO PET. Association of the PET and MRI measure of neuroinflammation within 2- years of completion of radiation with delayed cognitive outcome that will be measured at 3, 4 and 5 years from the completion of radiation

This study will address the question of whether targeting CMV antigens with PEP-CMV can serve as a novel immunotherapeutic approach in pediatric patients with newly-diagnosed high-grade glioma (HGG) or diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma (DIPG) as well as recurrent medulloblastoma (MB). PEP-CMV is a vaccine mixture of a peptide referred to as Component A. Component A is a synthetic long peptide (SLP) of 26 amino acid residues from human pp65. The SLPs encode multiple potential class I, class II, and antibody epitopes across several haplotypes. Component A will be administered as a stable water:oil emulsion in Montanide ISA 51. Funding Source - FDA OOPD

The purpose of this study is to test the safety and efficacy of iC9-GD2-CAR T-cells, a third generation (4.1BB-CD28) CAR T cell treatment targeting GD2 in paediatric or young adult patients affected by relapsed/refractory malignant central nervous system (CNS) tumors. In order to improve the safety of the approach, the suicide gene inducible Caspase 9 (iC9) has been included.

Neuroendocrine tumours (NETs) are generally slow growing, but some can be aggressive and resistant to treatment. Compared to healthy cells, the surface of these tumor cells has a greater number of special molecules called somatostatin receptors (SSTR). Somatostatin receptor scintigraphy and conventional imaging are used to detect NETs. This study proposes 68Gallium(68Ga)-DOTATOC positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) is superior to current imaging techniques. The goal is to evaluate the safety and sensitivity of 68Ga-DOTATOC PET/CT at detecting NETs and other tumors with over-expression of somatostatin receptors.

Primary malignant central nervous system (CNS) tumors are the second most common childhood malignancies. Amongst, medulloblastomas are the most common malignant brain tumor of childhood and occur primarily in the cerebellum. According to molecular characteristics, medulloblastomas were classified into four subtypes: WNT, SHH, Group3 and Group4 and different prognosis were noticed between subgroups. Several genetic predispositions related to clinical outcome were also discovered and might influence the treatment of medulloblastomas as novel pharmaceutical targets. This study aims to investigate genetic and cellular profiles of pediatric brain malignancies, mostly medulloblastomas, and other central nervous system tumor based on WGS, RNA-seq, single-cell sequencing and spatial transcriptomics. We also aim to investigate the correlation between genetic characteristics and clinical prognosis.

The study population consists of patients who undergo resection for somatostatin receptor-positive (SSTR-positive) CNS tumors, focusing on meningioma, and including esthesioneuroblastoma, hemangioblastoma, medulloblastoma, paraganglioma, pituitary adenoma, and SSTR-positive systemic cancers metastatic to the brain, such as small cell carcinoma of the lung. The study indication is to determine the diagnostic utility of 68Ga-DOTATATE PET/MRI in the diagnosis and management of patients with SSTR-positive CNS tumors, specifically whether 68Ga-DOTATATE PET/MRI demonstrates utility distinguishing between tumor recurrence and post-treatment change. To date, the utility of Ga-68-DOTATATE PET/MRI in meningioma has not been explored. Investigators have over the past 3 months been able to accrue the largest case series of presently 12 patients in whom Ga-68-DOTATATE PET/MRI demonstrated utility in the assessment of meningioma, including assessment for postsurgical/postradiation recurrence, detection of additional lesions not visualized on MRI alone, and evaluation of osseous invasion. Based on this initial experience, investigators intend to study the impact of Ga-68-DOTATATE PET/MRI in the assessment of the extent of residual tumor in patients status post meningioma resection, specifically in patients in whom tumor location limits resectability, patients with World Health Organization (WHO) grade II/III disease, and patients with history of stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) who develop postradiation change.