Active clinical trials for "Myelodysplastic Syndromes"

This randomized phase III trial studies tipifarnib in treating patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) in remission. Tipifarnib may stop the growth of cancer cells by blocking the enzymes necessary for their growth. It is not yet known whether tipifarnib is more effective than observation alone in preventing the recurrence of AML.

The purpose of this phase II study is to assess the efficacy of AP23573 in patients with specified relapsed or refractory hematological malignancies.

The goal of this clinical research study is to learn if decitabine (given at 3 different doses) can help to control Myelodysplastic Syndrome (MDS). The safety of these 3 treatments will also be studied.

RATIONALE: Cholecalciferol (vitamin D) may improve quality of life by increasing blood counts, decreasing fatigue, and improving other symptoms of myelodysplastic syndrome. PURPOSE: This phase II trial is studying how well cholecalciferol works in treating patients with myelodysplastic syndrome.

RATIONALE: Peripheral stem cell transplantation may be able to replace immune cells that were destroyed by chemotherapy. Sometimes the transplanted cells from a donor are rejected by the body's normal cells. Ultraviolet-B light therapy given before and after allogeneic stem cell transplantation may help prevent this from happening. PURPOSE: Clinical trial to study the effectiveness of combining ultraviolet-B light therapy with allogeneic stem cell transplantation in treating patients who have hematologic malignancies.

The purpose of this study is to assess the effects of the combination of all-trans retinoic acid in combination with one of two schedules of Bryostatin 1 in patients with myelodysplasia and acute myelogenous leukemia.

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 determine the effects of the oral iron chelator Deferasirox on liver iron content after one year of treatment in patients with iron overload from repeated blood transfusions. Beta-thalassemia patients unable to be treated with deferoxamine or patients with rare chronic anemias such as Myelodysplastic Syndrome, Fanconi's Syndrome, Blackfan-Diamond Syndrome, and Pure Red Blood Cell Anemia are eligible for this study. Liver iron content will be measured by liver biopsy at the beginning of the study and after one year of treatment. However, those patients living in the San Francisco/Oakland area may have a SQUID in place of the liver biopsy if the biopsy is not medically possible for them. The SQUID is a non-invasive magnetic means to measure liver iron content.

This study will evaluate the safety and effectiveness of stem cell transplantation in which the donors T lymphocytes have undergone "selective depletion." Certain patients with cancers of the blood undergo transplantation of donated stem cells to generate new and normally functioning bone marrow. In addition to producing the new bone marrow, the donor's T-lymphocytes also fight any tumor cells that might have remained in the body. This attack on tumor cells is called a "graft-versus-leukemia" (GVL) effect. However, another type of T-lymphocyte from the donor may cause what is called "graft-versus-host-disease" (GVHD), in which the donor cells recognize the patient's cells as foreign and mount an immune response to reject them. Selective depletion is a technique that was developed to remove the T-lymphocytes that cause harmful GVHD, while keeping those that produce the desirable GVL effect.

RATIONALE: Drugs used in chemotherapy use different ways to stop cancer cells from dividing so they stop growing or die. PURPOSE: Phase I trial to study the effectiveness of MS-275 in treating patients who have hematologic cancer.