Active clinical trials for "Breast Neoplasms"

RATIONALE: Drugs used in chemotherapy work in different ways to stop the growth of tumor cells, either by killing the cells or by stopping them from dividing. Monoclonal antibodies, such as trastuzumab, can block tumor growth in different ways. Some block the ability of tumor cells to grow and spread. Others find tumor cells and help kill them or carry tumor-killing substances to them. Giving combination chemotherapy together with trastuzumab before surgery may make the tumor smaller and reduce the amount of normal tissue that needs to be removed. Giving trastuzumab after surgery may kill any tumor cells that remain after surgery. Sometimes, after surgery, the tumor may not need more treatment until it progresses. In this case, observation may be sufficient. It is not yet known whether trastuzumab is more effective than observation when given after combination chemotherapy and trastuzumab in treating patients with breast cancer. PURPOSE: This randomized phase II trial is studying trastuzumab to see how well it works compared with observation when given after combination chemotherapy and trastuzumab in treating patients undergoing surgery for stage II or stage III breast cancer.

RATIONALE: Drugs used in chemotherapy, such as doxorubicin, epirubicin, and cyclophosphamide, work in different ways to stop the growth of tumor cells, either by killing the cells or by stopping them from dividing. Giving combination chemotherapy after surgery may kill any tumor cells that remain after surgery. Sometimes, after surgery, the tumor may not need more treatment until it progresses. In this case, observation may be sufficient. It is not yet known whether giving doxorubicin or epirubicin together with cyclophosphamide is more effective than observation in treating older women with invasive breast cancer. PURPOSE: This randomized phase III trial is studying doxorubicin or epirubicin and cyclophosphamide to see how well they work compared with observation in treating older women with invasive breast cancer.

RATIONALE: Estrogen can cause the growth of breast cancer cells. Hormone therapy using fulvestrant, anastrozole, or exemestane may fight breast cancer by blocking the use of estrogen by the tumor cells or by lowering the amount of estrogen the body makes. It is not yet known whether giving fulvestrant together with anastrozole is more effective than giving fulvestrant together with a placebo or exemestane alone in treating breast cancer. PURPOSE: This randomized phase III trial is studying fulvestrant and anastrozole to see how well they work compared to fulvestrant and a placebo or exemestane alone in treating postmenopausal women with locally advanced or metastatic breast cancer.

The purpose of the study is to examine the safety and effectiveness of the drug combination of Myocet, paclitaxel and trastuzumab compared to paclitaxel and trastuzumab without Myocet, as first line treatment for patients with metastatic HER2+ breast cancer.

This is an investigation of the safety and efficacy of Maxy-G34 in breast cancer patients treated with TAC chemotherapy. Maxy-G34 will be given as a single injection during each cycle of chemotherapy, for a planned total of six chemotherapy cycles.

The standard treatment for women with invasive breast cancer is local excision follow by whole breast radiation. The local recurrence rates are low, side effects are low, and the cosmetic outcome is excellent. The treatments, however, need to be given daily for 5 1/2 to 6 1/2 weeks, making the treatment difficult, particularly for the elderly and for women who need to travel long distances for the therapy. The goal of this study is to determine the toxicity and efficacy of giving the radiation in a shorter time, using higher daily doses of radiation. The risk of recurrence in the elderly population is lower, and since majority of recurrences occur close to the area where the tumor previously was, it is hypothesized that radiation to that area of the breast would be sufficient to obtain low risk of recurrence. When a smaller volume of tissue is treated, more radiation can be given daily, and therefore the treatment can be shortened. The risk of side effects increases as the dose per daily treatment increases. Therefore, the goal is to study the short term side effects, long term side effects, and cosmetic outcome of daily radiation using higher daily doses for shorter period of time. We will also follow the recurrence rate. Because less of the breast tissue will be treated, there may be a small increased risk of recurrence. Because the higher fraction size can result in more side effects we will be using intensity modulated radiation (IMRT). IMRT is the most advanced individually tailored radiation treatment technique that results in the least amount of side effects. It allows tight monitoring of the dose in the untreated breast. Seventy five women diagnosed with stage I breast cancer will participate. Participants must have a lumpectomy, clear margins and no lymphovascular invasion to be eligible. A treatment planning CT scan will be obtained. If the lumpectomy cavity can be clearly delineated, an IMRT plan will be generated with predefined strict dose requirement criteria. The patients will be treated once daily, 5 days a week, for a total of 10 treatments (instead of standard 28-33). The patients will be evaluated for toxicity weekly during the treatment, and weekly for additional 4 weeks. At each of these evaluations, they will fill out a short 10 minute questionnaire detailing their side effects. Follow-up will continue every 3 months for 3 years, and every 6 months for 2 more years. At each of these follow-ups a short questionnaire will be filled out by the patients detailing any toxicity, as well as their perception of the cosmetic outcome. A cosmesis questionnaire will be also be filled out by the evaluating physician before radiation, at 6, 12, 18, and 24 months, and yearly for 3 more years. A total of 5 years of follow-up is planned. Participants will also have the option of consenting to the photograph portion of the study. Those who do will have photographs taken of their breasts (excluding faces) at the time they complete the cosmetic questionnaire, to evaluate the cosmetic outcome.

RATIONALE: Drugs used in chemotherapy work in different ways to stop the growth of tumor cells, either by killing the cells or by stopping them from dividing. Giving more than one drug (combination chemotherapy) may kill more tumor cells. Colony-stimulating factors, such as darbepoetin alfa, may increase the number of immune cells found in bone marrow or peripheral blood and may help the immune system recover from the side effects of chemotherapy. Giving combination chemotherapy together with darbepoetin alfa after surgery may kill any tumor cells that remain after surgery. It is not yet known whether combination chemotherapy and darbepoetin alfa are more effective than combination chemotherapy alone in treating stage III breast cancer. PURPOSE: This randomized clinical trial is studying how well giving combination chemotherapy together with darbepoetin alfa works compared to combination chemotherapy alone in treating women with stage III breast cancer.

This is a randomized study comparing the use of Anastrozole before and continuing during radiotherapy for breast cancer compared to the use of anastrozole after irradiation.

This is a Phase III, multicenter, randomized, placebo-controlled trial designed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of bevacizumab in combination with chemotherapy compared with chemotherapy alone in subjects with previously untreated metastatic breast cancer.

RATIONALE: Drugs used in chemotherapy use different ways to stop tumor cells from dividing so they stop growing or die. Microwave thermotherapy kills tumor cells by heating them to several degrees above body temperature. Combining chemotherapy with microwave thermotherapy before surgery may shrink the tumor so that it can be removed during surgery. PURPOSE: Randomized phase II trial to compare the effectiveness of combination chemotherapy with or without microwave thermotherapy before surgery in treating women who have locally advanced breast cancer.