Active clinical trials for "Mesothelioma"

RATIONALE: Vaccines made from a person's tumor may help the body build an immune response to kill tumor cells. PURPOSE: Phase I trial to study the effectiveness of vaccine therapy in treating patients who have undergone surgery to remove stage I, stage II, or stage IIIA non-small cell lung cancer or stage I or stage II mesothelioma.

RATIONALE: Drugs used in chemotherapy use different ways to stop tumor cells from dividing so they stop growing or die. It is not yet known whether receiving cisplatin with raltitrexed is more effective than cisplatin alone for malignant mesothelioma. PURPOSE: Randomized phase III trial to compare the effectiveness of cisplatin with or without raltitrexed in treating patients who have malignant mesothelioma of the pleura.

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 raltitrexed in treating patients who have malignant mesothelioma that cannot be surgically removed.

RATIONALE: Drugs used in chemotherapy such as alanosine use different ways to stop tumor cells from dividing so they stop growing or die. PURPOSE: This phase II trial is studying how well alanosine works in treating patients with soft tissue sarcoma, sarcoma of the bone, mesothelioma, non-small cell lung cancer, or pancreatic cancer.

The purpose of this study is to find a recommended dose level and schedule of dosing LY3023414 that can safely be taken by participants with advanced or metastatic cancer. The study will also explore the changes to various markers in blood cells and potentially tumor cells. Finally, the study will help document any antitumor activity this drug may have. In Part A of this study, participants with advanced/metastatic cancer (including lymphoma) will receive increasing doses of LY3023414. In Part B, LY3023414 will be explored in different types of cancer, including breast and lung cancer, lymphoma and mesothelioma.

The purpose of this study is to determine the response rate to the combination of doxorubicin and valproate acid in patients with MM failing after at least one previous chemotherapy regimen including platinum derivatives .

The purpose is to evaluate the activity and feasibility of a two drug regimen which is partly orally and partly intravenous in advanced pleural mesothelioma.

Background: Previously we have demonstrated induction of tumor antigen and tumor suppressor gene expression in lung cancer cells following exposure to the DNA demethylating agent, Decitabine (DAC). We have also demonstrated that DAC mediated target gene expression and apoptosis can be significantly enhanced in cancer cells by subsequent exposure to the histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitor Depsipeptide FK228 (DP). Furthermore, we have demonstrated that following DAC, or DAC/DP exposure, cancer cells can be recognized by cytolytic T cells specific for the cancer testis antigen, NY-FSO-1. This Phase I study will evaluate gene induction in thoracic oncology patients mediated by sequential DAC/DP treatment with or without the selective COX-2 inhibitor, celecoxib. Objectives: Evaluation of the pharmacokinetics and toxicity of continuous 72-hour intravenous Decitabine (DAC) infusion followed by 4-hour intravenous infusion of Depsipeptide FK228 (DP) with or without oral celecoxib in patients with unresectable cancers involving the lungs or pleura. Analysis of NY-ESO-1, p16 and p21 expression in cancer specimens before and after sequential Decitabine/Depsipeptide treatment. Analysis of serologic response to NY-ESO-1 before and after sequential drug treatment. Analysis of apoptosis in tumor biopsies before and after sequential Decitabine/Depsipeptide treatment. Refinement of laser capture microdissection and micro-array techniques for analysis of gene expression profiles in tumor tissues. Eligibility: Patients with histologically or cytologically proven primary small cell or non-small cell lung cancers, advanced esophageal cancers, pleural mesotheliomas, or non-thoracic cancers with metastases to the lungs or pleura. Patients must be 18 years or older with an ECOG performance status of 0-2 and have adequate pulmonary reserve evidenced by FEV1 and DLCO greater than the 30% predicted, and less than 50 mm Hg and p02 greater than 60 mm Hg on room air ABG. Patients must have a platelet count greater than 100.000. an ANC equal to or greater than 1500 without transfusion or cytokine support, a normal PT, and adequate hepatic function as evidenced by a total bilirubin of less than 1.5 x upper limits of normal. Serum creatinine less than or equal to 1.6 mg/ml or the creatinine clearance must be greater than 70 ml/min/1.73m(2). Design: Patients with inoperable malignancies involving lungs or pleura will receive two cycles of 72-hour intravenous infusion of Decitabine followed by 4-hour Depsipeptide infusion using a Phase I study design. Decitabine will be administered by continuous infusion on days 1-4, and patient cohorts will receive escalating doses of Depsipeptide administered on day 4 and day 10 of a 34 day cycle. Once the MTD and toxicities for sequential DAC/DP have been identified, additional cohorts of 6 lung cancer patients and 6 mesothelioma patients will receive sequential DAC/DP administered at the MTD as outlined above with celecoxib (400mg bid) administered on days 4-34 of each treatment cycle, as a means to enhance target cell apoptosis and facilitate anti-tumor immune recognition/response. Pharmacokinetics, systemic toxicity, and response to therapy will be recorded. Tumor biopsies will be obtained prior to, and after therapy to evaluate expression of NY-ESO-1 tumor antigen, as well as p16 and p21 tumor suppressor genes, which are known to be modulated by chromatin structure. Additional analysis will be undertaken to evaluate the extent of apoptosis in tumor tissues, and to determine if immune recognition of NY-ESO-1 can be demonstrated following sequential DAC?DP +/- celecoxib treatment. As the exact set of comparisons and analyses to be performed will be determined following completion of the trial and will be based on limited numbers of patients, the analyses will be considered exploratory and hypothesis generating rather than definitive. A total of 40 patients will be enrolled.

The stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) procedure is an emerging alternative to the standard treatment for early stage non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), typically lobectomy with lymphadenectomy. This procedure (lobectomy) does not fulfill the medical need as many patients are poor operative candidates or decline surgery. This study assesses the feasibility of stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) as a tool to produce therapeutically useful computed tomography (CT) scans, using standard water-soluble iodinated compounds as the contrast agents.

This randomized pilot clinical trial studies the effects of taking doxepin hydrochloride as compared to placebo (inactive drug) in treating esophageal pain in patients with cancer located in the chest area receiving radiation therapy to the thorax with or without chemotherapy. Doxepin hydrochloride is a tricyclic antidepressant drug which was recently shown to be helpful for mouth pain in patients receiving radiation therapy. Doxepin hydrochloride affects the surface of the esophagus, which may be helpful in reducing the pain caused by radiation therapy.