Active clinical trials for "Lung Neoplasms"

Both pemetrexed and docetaxel have been reported to have similar activity against non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) who failed previous chemotherapy in a large randomized phase III study. However, no study showed different toxicity and efficacy profiles within individual patients. Present phase II randomized clinical trial is designed to answer these questions, with addition of information about whether or not sequential therapy can prolong disease-free and overall survival.

The purpose of this study is to test a new approach to the use of standard drugs before surgery in patients with lung cancer. This study will find out what effects, good and/or bad, that this approach has on the cancer. It is routine to give chemotherapy prior to surgery in patients with this type of lung cancer, to help keep it from coming back. It is also routine to perform a special type of scan called a PET scan. This PET scan measures how active a cancer is by use of a special tracer made out of sugar. In this study, all patients will have a PET scan and then be treated with standard chemotherapy drugs, either pemetrexed and cisplatin if the cancer is a "non-squamous" cancer or gemcitabine and cisplatin if the cancer is a squamous cancer. In rare cases, the doctor will decide to give carboplatin instead of cisplatin. In most patients, a repeat PET scan will show that the tumor is decreasing and they will complete standard chemotherapy then go on to have surgery. In some patients, a repeat PET scan will show that the tumor has not decreased enough. For these patients, the routine practice is to proceed with surgery. This research study will test whether switching from the standard treatment of pemetrexed and cisplatin or gemcitabine and cisplatin to a different treatment called vinorelbine and docetaxel is safe and effective. Vinorelbine and docetaxel are also standard chemotherapy drugs which work in a different way than pemetrexed or gemcitabine and cisplatin.

RATIONALE: Romidepsin and erlotinib hydrochloride may stop the growth of tumor cells by blocking some of the enzymes needed for cell growth. PURPOSE: This phase I/II trial is studying the side effects and best dose of romidepsin when given together with erlotinib hydrochloride and to see how well they work in treating patients with stage III or stage IV non-small cell lung cancer.

The primary objective for this trial is to determine the biological ability of apricoxib to decrease T reg cells in the peripheral blood and tumor infiltrating lymphocytes in subjects compared to those who have not in subjects with early stage Non-small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC). The secondary objectives are to determine the efficacy of apricoxib to inhibit CD4+CD25+ T reg and FOXP3 function and exploration of COX-2 dependent biomarkers of apoptosis resistance, angiogenesis, invasion, and immunity.

This phase I trial studies the side effects and best schedule of vaccine therapy with or without sirolimus in treating patients with cancer-testis antigen (NY-ESO-1) expressing solid tumors. Biological therapies, such as sirolimus, may stimulate the immune system in different ways and stop tumor cells from growing. Vaccines made from a person's white blood cells mixed with tumor proteins may help the body build an effective immune response to kill tumor cells that express NY-ESO-1. Infusing the vaccine directly into a lymph node may cause a stronger immune response and kill more tumor cells. It is not yet known whether vaccine therapy works better when given with or without sirolimus in treating solid tumors.

This open-label, randomized, multicenter study will evaluate the efficacy and safety of bevacizumab (Avastin) in combination with standard of care (SOC) treatment in participants with advanced non-squamous NSCLC. Participants will be enrolled at documentation of progression of disease (PD) after 4-6 cycles of first-line treatment with bevacizumab plus a platinum doublet-containing therapy and a minimum of two cycles of bevacizumab maintenance treatment prior to PD. Participants will be randomly assigned to one of two treatment arms to receive either bevacizumab plus SOC treatment or SOC treatment alone.

The investigators' group was the first to perform a phase II trial in patients with limited disease (stage I-III) small-cell lung carcinoma (SCLC) in which only the fluorodeoxyglucose-positron emission tomography (FDG-PET) positive lymph nodes were irradiated. In this trial, only 3% of isolated nodal failures were observed. However, all patients in that study were treated with 3D conformal radiotherapy (3DCRT). At present, IMRT techniques have become more standard in lung cancer. Because of the lower radiation dose to the lymph nodes outside of the planning target volume (PTV) with IMRT, higher incidences of isolated nodal failures may occur. In this trial, the investigators will investigate the patterns of local relapse after IMRT with concurrent chemotherapy in patients with stage I-III SCLC.

Small cell lung cancer (SCLC) is a chemotherapy and radiotherapy sensitive tumor, but with very high rates of relapse and metastasis, resulting in a very poor outcome. Among limited-stage patients, the relapse rate is at least 80% and among extensive-stage patients, the relapse rate is 95-98%. The impetus to develop more effective therapies against novel targets in SCLC is therefore high. Hsp-90 inhibitors are a new class of drugs with important anti-malignant potential in a variety of tumor types because of the reliance of multiple oncoproteins on Hsp90 function. Although small cell neuroendocrine tumors generally carry many mutated oncoproteins, without clearly defined clients for Hsp90 mediating inhibitor effects in these cells, a recent study demonstrated that Hsp90 inhibition causes massive apoptosis by activating the intrinsic apoptotic pathway in a number of SCLC cell lines. SCLC is a particularly attractive target for apoptosis inducing drugs because of high growth rates and evidence of molecular alterations affecting apoptotic mechanisms. STA-9090 is a novel, small-molecule inhibitor of Hsp90. Unlike earlier generations of Hsp90 inhibitors, STA-9090 has been shown to be a potent inducer of apoptosis in a variety of cell lines and has anti-tumor activity in multiple types of human xenografts. As was seen with other Hsp90 inhibitors, STA-9090 also induces apoptosis in a number of SCLC cell lines. Based on the anti-tumor potential seen pre-clinically with Hsp90 inhibition, the potent effects of STA-9090 seen pre-clinically as compared with other inhibitors in the same class, as well as early data suggesting safety and tolerability of this drug in the Phase I setting, we propose to study the single-agent activity of STA-9090 in a Phase II trial of patients with relapsed or refractory small cell lung cancer.

Background: AZD6244 (ARRY-142886) is an investigational anticancer drug that is designed to block a critical component (MEK (methyl ethyl ketone)) of a pathway (MAP (mitogen-activated protein) kinase pathway) that causes some lung cancer cells to grow. The MAP kinase pathway could be overactive in a proportion of lung cancers, including some which also have another mutation in a protein known as KRAS (Kirsten rat sarcoma viral oncogene homolog). Approximately 20% of lung cancers have KRAS mutations which can make some cancer treatments including erlotinib, a standard anticancer treatment drug less effective. Researchers are interested in determining whether AZD6244 is effective in treating advanced NSCLC (non small cell lung cancer), including KRAS mutated lung cancer that has not responded to standard therapy. Objectives: To determine the effectiveness of AZD6244, either alone or in combination with erlotinib, in preventing tumor growth in individuals with NSCLC. Eligibility: Individuals at least 18 years of age who have been diagnosed with advanced NSCLC that has not responded to standard therapy. Design: Participants will be screened with a medical history, physical examination, blood tests, imaging studies, and potentially, tumor biopsy tests to determine whether a participant's NSCLC contains mutations in the KRAS protein. Participants will be divided into two groups based on the status of the KRAS protein in their NSCLC tumor cells: Individuals with normal KRAS protein: Half will receive AZD6244 and erlotinib, and half will receive only erlotinib. Individuals with mutated KRAS protein: Half will receive AZD6244 and erlotinib, and half will receive only AZD6244. Participants will take their assigned medications daily (on an empty stomach in the morning and/or evening, depending on the treatment) for 28-day cycles of treatment. Participants will also keep a medication diary to record any side effects. Participants will have frequent blood tests during the first cycle of treatment, and will have imaging studies or other tests as required by the study researchers. Participants may also have an additional tumor biopsy after the end of the first treatment cycle. Treatment will continue until the disease progresses, significant side effects develop, the participant chooses to leave the study, or the researchers end the study....

Two thirds of non small cell lung cancer patients present with locally advanced tumours (stage III) or metastatic disease (stage IV) and radiotherapy plays a major role in their treatment. Treatment (radiotherapy and chemotherapy) can be given with curative intent to selected patients with locally advanced, stage III disease. Patients with stage III tumours associated with a pleural effusion, and patients who present with advanced, metastatic disease (stage IV) are treated palliatively with no prospect of cure. In the latter, radiotherapy (RT) is offered with the aim of improving symptoms, achieving tumour control and optimising quality of life. It is generally believed that a plateau has been reached for combination of chemotherapy with radiotherapy lung cancer. There is a strong rationale for combining molecular targeted agents with irradiation. AZD6244 is a potent, selective, uncompetitive inhibitor of MEK that has been tested in early phase clinical trials either alone or in combination with chemotherapy in a variety of cancers including lung cancer. Preclinical studies have shown that AZD6244 enhances the effect of radiation. AZD6244 has not yet been combined with radiotherapy in clinical trials. In this study, a maximum of 18 patients will be allocated to one of 3 doses of AZD6244 in combination with a standard dose of RT in a Phase 1 dose escalation/ de-escalation design to determine the recommended dose for Phase 2 trials (RP2D). An expanded cohort of 15 patients will be treated at the RP2D to obtain additional safety and preliminary response data. Patients will undergo 3 FLT positron emission tomogram (PET) scans, the first scan before treatment, second scan during AZD6244 treatment and third scan during RT. All patients will also have tissue/blood samples collected for biomarkers. Biomarkers and FLTPET imaging will be examined to obtain information that may predict for response, resistance or toxicity to radiation and AZD6244.