Active clinical trials for "Neuroblastoma"

RATIONALE: Vaccines made from a person's tumor cells and white blood cells may make the body build an effective immune response to kill tumor cells. Interleukin-2 (IL-2) may stimulate the white blood cells to kill tumor cells. Biological therapies, such as cellular adoptive immunotherapy, stimulate the immune system and stop tumor cells from growing. Giving vaccine therapy with IL-2 may be a more effective treatment for Ewing's sarcoma or neuroblastoma. PURPOSE: This phase I trial is studying the side effects of vaccine therapy when given with IL-2 in treating young patients with relapsed or refractory Ewing's sarcoma or neuroblastoma.

Participants in this study have been diagnosed with a tumor such as a carcinoid, neuroendocrine tumor, neuroblastoma, Ewing's sarcoma, or brain tumor that has cells which carry somatostatin receptors. The purpose of this research study is to see if the tumor can be identified using a special procedure called a positron emission tomography (PET) scan and how the results of this imaging procedure will change the management of the tumor.

This trial is studying how well iodine I 131 metaiodobenzylguanidine together with combination chemotherapy works in treating patients who are undergoing an autologous peripheral stem cell for high risk or relapsed neuroblastoma.

131I-metaiodobenzylguanidine (131I-MIBG) is a norepinephrine analog that concentrates in adrenergic tissue and therefore holds promise for cell-specific treatment of neuroblastoma. This is a dual institution, Phase II study of 131I-MIBG administered at the previously defined maximum practical dose of 18 mCi/kg to children with relapsed or refractory neuroblastoma.

This is a phase II study to determine the antitumor activity of Vinorelbine and Cyclofosfamide association among patients with refractory tumours or in relapse with rhabdomyosarcomas and other soft tissue tumours, Ewing tumours, osteosarcomas, neuroblastomas or medulloblastomas.

RATIONALE: Tubefeeding may help maintain good nutrition and lessen weight loss in younger patients receiving chemotherapy for cancer. PURPOSE: This clinical trial is studying how well tube feedings work in younger patients receiving chemotherapy for newly diagnosed acute myeloid leukemia, myelodysplastic syndrome, or high-risk solid tumors.

This pilot clinical trial studies mechanical stimulation in preventing bone density loss in patients undergoing donor stem cell transplant. Mechanical stimulation may limit, prevent, or reverse bone loss, increase muscle and cardiac performance, and improve overall health

Neuroblastoma (NB) is characterized by its wide heterogeneity in clinical presentation and evolution. Recent retrospective studies have revealed by CGH-array that the overall genomic pattern is an important prognostic marker which might be taken into account for treatment stratification. This protocol deals with a prospective analysis of the genomic profile established by CGH-array on the tumor samples obtained at the diagnosis of all the patients with NB in France, to obtain genomic profiles and being able to determine their prognostic impact in the various protocols of treatment. The objective of this study will be a better therapeutic stratification in the future trials, studies or protocols of treatment.

In this study tumor will be tested for cancer causing gene alterations such as mutations or copy number alterations. This is called tumor profiling. A panel of experts will review the tumor profiling results and determine whether there is a cancer-causing alteration present in the tumor. If there is, the experts will determine if there is a targeted drug available that could counteract this alteration. If there is an alteration identified and a targeted drug available the panel of experts will make an individualized treatment recommendation. The results of the tumor profiling and the individualized treatment recommendation can be shared with the primary oncologist.

Well-regulated glycosylation is essential for the normal development of the nervous system. Altered expression of glycosyltransferases with resulting dysregulated glycosylation of neuroblastic cells might lead to the development of NB. The β1,4-N-acetylgalactosaminyltransferase III (B4GALNT3) exhibits GalNAc transferase activity to form the GalNAcβ1,4GlcNAc (LacdiNAc or LDN) structure. The Drosophila B4GALNTA, homolog of human B4GALNT3, has been suggested to regulate the neuronal development. By immunohistochemical studies, we demonstrated that the expression of B4GALNT3 correlated well with histological grade of differentiation in NB tumor samples. Since well differentiated tumors usually carry a better prognosis, we thus speculate that expression of B4GALNT3 in tumor tissues can a favorable prognostic factor of NB. To explore the role of B4GALNT3 in the prognosis of NB, we propose the following project with two specific aims: Aim Ⅰ: Establishing the significance of B4GALNT3 in the prognosis of NB: We plan to collect 90 NB tumor samples, and evaluate the RNA and protein expression levels by Q-PCR, Western blot, and immunohistochemistry in the tumor samples. The results will be compared with the other clinicopathological and biological factors of NB. Also the expression levels of B4GALNT3 in tumor tissues will be correlated to the patients' outcome to clarify whether B4GALNT3 could be a prognosis marker of NB. Aim II: Clarifying the effects of B4GALNT3 on NB cell behavior in vitro and in vivo. For further strengthening the prognostic role of B4GALNT3 in NB, NB cell phenotype and behavior changes after overexpression or knock-down of B4GALNT3 are evaluated by in vitro assays as well as by a nude mice xenograft model. In summary, if our project can establish the role of B4GALNT3 expression in NB, we may further subclassify the NB patients, and give the NB patients more appropriate therapies to improve patients' outcome. Furthermore, B4GALNT3 could potentially serves as a therapeutic target in the future.