Active clinical trials for "Myelodysplastic Syndromes"

Pre-transplant conditioning will include Fludarabine and dose-escalated Busulfan on days -6, -5, -4, and -3. Daily treatment doses will be adjusted to achieve target area under the plasma concentration time curve (AUC). Day 0 is the day of hematopoietic progenitor cell reinfusion. Supportive care will be based on institutional guidelines. Blood samples will be collected for dose modification based on the AUC levels. Dose escalation will proceed to determine the maximally tolerated level or AUC to evaluate the potential therapeutic benefit of higher doses of busulfan.

RATIONALE: Radiation therapy uses high-energy x-rays to damage cancer cells. Drugs used in chemotherapy use different ways to stop cancer cells from dividing so they stop growing or die. Combining chemotherapy with donor peripheral stem cell transplantation may allow the doctor to give higher doses of chemotherapy drugs and kill more tumor cells. PURPOSE: Phase II trial to study the effectiveness of combining total-body irradiation with fludarabine and donor peripheral stem cell transplantation in treating patients who have hematologic cancer.

RATIONALE: Photopheresis treats the patient's blood with drugs and ultraviolet light outside the body and kills the white blood cells. Giving photopheresis, pentostatin, and radiation therapy before a donor bone marrow or stem cell transplant helps stop the patient's immune system from rejecting the donor's stem cells. The donated stem cells may replace the patient's immune system and help destroy any remaining cancer cells (graft-versus-tumor effect). Sometimes the transplanted cells from a donor can also make an immune response against the body's normal cells. Giving pentostatin before transplant and cyclosporine or mycophenolate mofetil after transplant may stop this from happening. PURPOSE: This phase II trial is studying how well giving pentostatin together with photopheresis and total-body irradiation work before donor bone marrow transplant in treating patients with myelodysplastic syndromes.

This phase II trial studies the side effects and the best dose of alemtuzumab when given together with fludarabine phosphate and low-dose total body irradiation (TBI) and how well it works before donor stem cell transplant in treating patients with hematological malignancies. Giving chemotherapy and low-dose TBI before a donor peripheral blood stem cell transplant helps stop the growth of cancer cells. It may also stop the patient's immune system from rejecting the donor's stem cells. Also, monoclonal antibodies, such as alemtuzumab, can find cancer cells and either kill them or deliver cancer-killing substances to them without harming normal cells. When the healthy stem cells from a donor are infused into the patient they may help the patient's bone marrow make stem cells, red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets. Sometimes the transplanted cells from a donor can also make an immune response against the body's normal cells. Giving cyclosporine (CSP) and mycophenolate mofetil (MMF) after transplant may stop this from happening.

RATIONALE: Chemotherapy, such as fludarabine and thiotepa, and radiation therapy may destroy cancerous blood-forming cells (stem cells) in the blood and bone marrow. Giving healthy stem cells from a donor whose blood closely resembles the patient's blood will help the patient's bone marrow make new stem cells that become red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets. PURPOSE: This phase I/II trial is studying the side effects of total-body irradiation, fludarabine, and thiotepa and to see how well they work in treating young patients who are undergoing a donor stem cell transplant for hematologic cancer.

The purpose of this study is to characterize the hematological response rate, as well as other parameters of efficacy and safety induced by tipifarnib in patients with high-risk myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS). Tipifarnib belongs to a class of drugs called Farnesyl Transferase Inhibitors (FTI). It blocks proteins that make cancer cells grow.

The primary objective of the study is to determine the efficacy of thalidomide for the treatment of anemia in patients with myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS).

RATIONALE: Biological therapies, such as cellular adoptive immunotherapy, stimulate the immune system in different ways and stop cancer cells from growing. PURPOSE: This phase I trial is studying the side effects of cellular adoptive immunotherapy in treating patients with acute myeloid leukemia, acute lymphoblastic leukemia, or myelodysplastic syndromes that relapsed after donor stem cell transplant.

Phase I trial to study the effectiveness of XK469R in treating patients who have refractory hematologic cancer. Drugs used in chemotherapy, such XK469R, work in different ways to stop cancer cells from dividing so they stop growing or die

This phase I/II trial is studying the side effects and best dose of tipifarnib when given with idarubicin and cytarabine and to see how well it works in treating patients with newly diagnosed myelodysplastic syndromes or acute myeloid leukemia. Drugs used in chemotherapy, such as idarubicin and cytarabine, work in different ways to stop cancer cells from dividing so they stop growing or die. Tipifarnib (Zarnestra) may stop the growth of cancer cells by blocking the enzymes necessary for their growth. Giving idarubicin and cytarabine with tipifarnib may kill more cancer cells.