Active clinical trials for "Nervous System Neoplasms"

RATIONALE: Vaccines made from a person's white blood cells mixed with tumor proteins may make the body build an immune response to kill tumor cells. PURPOSE: This phase I trial is studying the side effects and best dose of vaccine therapy in treating patients with malignant glioma.

RATIONALE: Vaccines may make the body build an immune response to kill tumor cells. Colony-stimulating factors such as sargramostim increase the number of immune cells found in bone marrow or peripheral blood. Combining vaccine therapy with sargramostim may cause a stronger immune response and kill more tumor cells. PURPOSE: This phase I trial is studying the side effects of vaccine therapy when given together with sargramostim in treating patients with advanced sarcoma or brain tumor.

RATIONALE: Specialized radiation therapy that delivers radiation directly to the tumor may kill more tumor cells and cause less damage to normal tissue. PURPOSE: This phase II trial is studying how well radiation therapy works in treating young patients with gliomas.

RATIONALE: Drugs used in chemotherapy use different ways to stop tumor cells from dividing so they stop growing or die. Combining more than one drug may kill more tumor cells. PURPOSE: Phase II trial to study the effectiveness of combining carboplatin with irinotecan in treating patients who have glioblastoma multiforme.

RATIONALE: Drugs used in chemotherapy use different ways to stop tumor cells from dividing so they stop growing or die. PURPOSE: Phase I trial to study the effectiveness of karenitecin in treating patients who have recurrent malignant glioma.

RATIONALE: NBI-3001 may be able to locate cancer cells and stop them from growing. This may be an effective treatment for glioblastoma multiforme. PURPOSE: Randomized phase II trial to compare different regimens of NBI-3001 followed by surgery to remove the tumor in treating patients who have glioblastoma multiforme.

RATIONALE: Drugs used in chemotherapy use different ways to stop tumor cells from dividing so they stop growing or die. Radiation therapy uses high-energy x-rays to damage tumor cells. Combining more than one drug or combining chemotherapy with radiation therapy may kill more tumor cells. PURPOSE: Phase II trial to study the effectiveness of combination chemotherapy followed by radiation therapy in treating patients who have surgically resected, newly diagnosed medulloblastoma or supratentorial primitive neuroectodermal tumor, or incompletely resected ependymoma.

RATIONALE: Radiation therapy uses high-energy x-rays to damage tumor cells. Drugs used in chemotherapy use different ways to stop tumor cells from dividing so they stop growing or die. It is not yet known if radiation therapy is more effective with or without temozolomide for glioblastoma multiforme. PURPOSE: Randomized phase III trial to compare the effectiveness of radiation therapy with or without temozolomide in treating patients who have newly diagnosed glioblastoma multiforme.

RATIONALE: Drugs used in chemotherapy use different ways to stop tumor cells from dividing so they stop growing or die. Radiation therapy uses high-energy x-rays to damage tumor cells. Combining chemotherapy and radiation therapy may kill more tumor cells. PURPOSE: Phase I/II trial to study the effectiveness of pyrazoloacridine followed by radiation therapy in treating adults who have newly diagnosed supratentorial glioblastoma multiforme.

RATIONALE: Radiolabeled drugs such as yttrium Y 90 SMT 487 can locate tumor cells and deliver tumor-killing substances to them without harming normal cells. PURPOSE: Phase I trial to study the effectiveness of yttrium Y 90 SMT 487 in treating patients who have refractory or recurrent cancer.