Active clinical trials for "Nervous System Neoplasms"

RATIONALE: Drugs used in chemotherapy use different ways to stop tumor cells from dividing so they stop growing or die. PURPOSE: Phase II trial to study the effectiveness of ecteinascidin 743 in treating patients who have advanced soft tissue sarcoma.

RATIONALE: Suramin may stop the growth of glioblastoma multiforme by stopping blood flow to the tumor. Radiation therapy uses high-energy x-rays to damage tumor cells. Combining suramin with radiation therapy may be a more effective treatment for glioblastoma multiforme. PURPOSE: Phase II trial to study the effectiveness of suramin plus radiation therapy in treating patients who have newly diagnosed glioblastoma multiforme.

RATIONALE: Inserting the gene for p53 into a person's brain cells may improve the body's ability to fight cancer. PURPOSE: Phase I trial to study the effectiveness of p53 gene therapy with SCH-58500 in treating patients who have recurrent, or progressive glioblastoma multiforme, anaplastic astrocytoma, or anaplastic mixed glioma that can be removed during surgery.

RATIONALE: Prinomastat may stop the growth of glioblastoma multiforme by stopping blood flow to the tumor. Drugs used in chemotherapy stop tumor cells from dividing so they stop growing or die. PURPOSE: Randomized phase II trial to study the effectiveness of prinomastat plus temozolomide in treating patients who have newly diagnosed glioblastoma multiforme.

RATIONALE: Radiation therapy uses high-energy x-rays to damage tumor cells. Drugs used in chemotherapy, such as temozolomide, carmustine, and lomustine, use different ways to stop tumor cells from dividing so they stop growing or die. Combining radiation therapy with chemotherapy may kill more tumor cells. PURPOSE: This randomized phase III trial is studying radiation therapy and temozolomide to see how well they work compared to radiation therapy and carmustine or lomustine in treating patients with anaplastic astrocytoma or mixed gliomas.

RATIONALE: Radiation therapy uses high-energy x-rays to damage tumor cells. Drugs used in chemotherapy work in different ways to stop tumor cells from dividing so they stop growing or die. It is not yet known whether radiation therapy alone is as effective as chemotherapy plus radiation therapy in treating germ cell tumor. PURPOSE: This randomized phase III trial is studying radiation therapy alone to see how well it works compared to chemotherapy and radiation therapy in treating patients with newly diagnosed primary CNS germ cell tumor.

RATIONALE: Everolimus may stop the growth of tumor cells by stopping blood flow to the tumor. Gefitinib may stop the growth of tumor cells by blocking the enzymes necessary for their growth. Combining everolimus with gefitinib may kill more tumor cells. PURPOSE: This phase I/II trial is studying the side effects and best dose of everolimus when given together with gefitinib and to see how well they work in treating patients with progressive glioblastoma multiforme or (progressive metastatic prostate cancer closed to accrual 10/19/06).

RATIONALE: Internal radiation uses radioactive material placed directly into or near a tumor to kill tumor cells. External-beam radiation therapy uses high-energy x-rays to kill tumor cells. Combining internal radiation with external-beam radiation therapy may kill any remaining tumor cells following surgery. PURPOSE: Phase I trial to study the effectiveness of combining internal radiation therapy with external-beam radiation therapy in treating patients who have undergone surgery for glioblastoma multiforme.

Primary malignant and non-malignant brain tumors account for an estimated 21.42 cases per 100,000 for a total count of 343,175 incident tumors based on worldwide population estimates [1]. These entities result in variable but disappointing rates of survival, particularly for primary brain tumors (5-year survival rates: anaplastic astrocytoma 27%; glioblastoma multiforme 5%) [2, 3]. Metastatic brain tumors outnumber primary brain tumors (estimates as high as 10:1) as they affect approximately 25% of patients diagnosed with cancer [4-6]. In terms of brain tumor surgery, the extent of surgical resection-a factor that is greatly impacted by a Neurosurgeon's ability to visualize these tumors-is directly associated with patient outcomes and survival [7-9]. Although spinal cord tumors are lower in terms of their incidence [10], data correlating extent-of-resection to outcomes and survival have been demonstrated in patients with intramedullary tumors [11]. Using systemically delivered compounds with a high sensitivity of detection by near-infrared (NIR) fluorescence, it would be possible for us to improve surgical resection thus minimizing chances of recurrence and improving survival. Simply, if the tumor cells will "glow" during surgery, the surgeons are more likely to identify tumor margins and residual disease, and are, therefore more likely to perform a superior cancer operation. By ensuring a negative margin through NIR imagery, it would make it possible to decrease the rates of recurrence and thus improve overall survival. This concept of intraoperative molecular imaging requires two innovations: (i) a fluorescent contrast agent that can be injected systemically into the subject and that selectively accumulates in the tumor tissues, and (ii) an imaging system that can detect and quantify the contrast agent in the tumor tissues.[12, 13] Subjects undergo intraoperative imaging, receiving an injection of indocyanine green and then undergoing intraoperative imaging of the surgery site with a NIR imaging system. The imaging devices allow the operating field to be observed in real-time.

The aim of this study is to follow up with all of the pediatric brain tumor patients who received proton beam radiation therapy at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) for which there is baseline neuropsychological testing in order to measure changes, if any, in neurobehavioral functioning (executive skills, emotional/behavioral functioning, and adaptive abilities) and their use of special education services at one year or more post-treatment. The investigators will also correlate neurobehavioral data with pertinent clinical information. Participation will be maximized through the use of mail-in, parental- and self-report questionnaires.