Active clinical trials for "Neuroblastoma"

RATIONALE: Studying samples of blood and tissue from patients with cancer in the laboratory may help doctors learn more about changes that occur in DNA and identify biomarkers related to cancer. PURPOSE: This research trial studies biomarkers in blood and tissue samples from patients with newly diagnosed neuroblastoma.

RATIONALE: New imaging procedures, such as whole-body MRI, may improve the ability to detect metastatic cancer and determine the extent of disease. PURPOSE: This clinical trial is studying whole-body MRI to see how well it works compared to standard imaging procedures in detecting distant metastases in patients with solid tumors or lymphoma.

RATIONALE: Taking part in a clinical trial may help children with cancer receive more effective treatment. PURPOSE: Determine why patients who are eligible for protocols made available through the Pediatric Oncology Group do not enroll in them, and develop strategies to increase enrollment on these clinical trials.

An open label, randomised, multiple dose, cross-over relative bioavailability and pharmacokinetics trial of a novel oral liquid and capsule formulations of 13-CRA administered to patients from 0 months - < 21 years.

Apart from brain tumors, Neuroblastoma is the most common solid tumor during childhood. About 50% of the cases present at diagnosis with factors of bad prognosis. During the last two decades, despite increased therapeutic intensity during induction and consolidation of high-risk neuroblastomas, the 5 year overall survival of high risk neuroblastoma remains in between 30 to 40% depending on studies. Besides strategies of high-dose chemotherapy followed by autologous transplantation of hematopoietic stem cells, and differentiating molecules (retinoids), immunotherapy will become one of the leading anti-neuroblastoma targeted therapy. No therapeutic strategies or molecules obtained such gains of survival ever before. Studying the immune system of children with neuroblastoma at diagnosis and during their treatment will help us to determine when we should test active or passive immunotherapy strategies. Moreover, this study would allow us to specify the cause of tumor immune tolerance in neuroblastoma, on which we have few data in comparison to adult tumors. This will be a multicentric, pilot, prospective, open, study that will not require unusual diagnostic interventions. This study will be transversal (all neuroblastoma stages included) in order to determine comparative criteria between low and high risk neuroblastoma. It will also be longitudinal (from diagnosis to post-treatment follow-up) in order to specify evolutionary aspects of immunity under radio-chemotherapy and retinoic acid therapy. Immunological analyses will be done on blood, bone marrow and tumor samples, at diagnosis, and during the treatment of children diagnosed for neuroblastoma (up to 3 time points). These types of samples are routinely done during conventional neuroblastoma treatment.

This randomized phase III trial is studying how well Caphosol rinse works in preventing mucositis in young patients undergoing autologous or donor stem cell transplant. Supersaturated calcium phosphate (Caphosol) rinse may be able to prevent mucositis, or mouth sores, in patients undergoing stem cell transplant.

Hu14.18K322A is a monoclonal antibody developed at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital (SJCRH) that is made to bind to cancer cells that have a molecule called GD2 on their surface. Sometimes the human body will make an antibody to the therapeutic antibody (like hu14.18K322A) that is being given for treatment. These are called human anti-human antibodies (HAHA). When testing for HAHA in a previous cohort of patients who received hu14.18K322A, it was found that some patients tested positive for high levels of an antibody before receiving hu14.18K322A or any other anti-GD2 antibody. In this study, investigators would like to know more about the nature of this pretreatment antibody, how often is it present, and if in the laboratory it increases the killing of tumor cells. OBJECTIVES: To determine whether pretreatment anti-therapeutic antibodies (PATA) represent antibodies reactive against an epitope (allotypic determinant) found on the anti-GD2 antibody hu14.18K322A To determine if PATA increases the anti-tumor efficacy of anti-GD2 antibodies in vitro

RATIONALE: Studying samples of blood and tumor tissue from patients with cancer in the laboratory may help doctors learn more about changes that occur in DNA and identify biomarkers related to cancer. PURPOSE: This research trial studies biomarkers in samples from patients with high-risk neuroblastoma.

This research trial studies specimens from young patients with neuroblastoma. Studying the genes expressed in specimens from patients with cancer may help doctors identify biomarkers related to cancer. It may also help doctors predict how patients will respond to treatment.

RATIONALE: Studying samples of blood and tumor tissue from patients with cancer in the laboratory may help doctors learn more about changes that occur in DNA and identify biomarkers related to cancer. It may also help doctors find better ways to treat cancer. PURPOSE: This research trial studies gene expression in samples from younger patients with neuroblastoma.