Active clinical trials for "Neuroectodermal Tumors"

This phase I trial is studying the side effects and best dose of erlotinib when given with temozolomide in treating young patients with recurrent or refractory solid tumors. Erlotinib may stop the growth of tumor cells by blocking the enzymes necessary for their growth. Drugs used in chemotherapy, such as temozolomide, work in different ways to stop tumor cells from dividing so they stop growing or die. Giving erlotinib with temozolomide may kill more tumor cells.

RATIONALE: Radiation therapy uses 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. Peripheral stem cell transplantation may allow doctors to give higher doses of radiation therapy and chemotherapy and kill more tumor cells. PURPOSE: Phase II trial to study the effectiveness of radiation therapy, chemotherapy and peripheral stem cell transplantation in treating patients with primitive neuroectodermal tumors.

This phase II trial is studying irinotecan to see how well it works in treating children with refractory solid tumors. Drugs used in chemotherapy use different ways to stop tumor cells from dividing so they stop growing or die.

Primary objective : To increase the 3 year progression-free survival from 40% to 60%. Patients included : metastatic, cerebral primitive neuroectodermal tumors in children aged over 5 years.

This randomized phase III trial studies flexible administration of filgrastim after combination chemotherapy to see how well it works compared to fixed administration of filgrastim in decreasing side effects of chemotherapy in younger patients with cancer. Cancer chemotherapy frequently results in neutropenia (low blood counts) when patients are susceptible to severe infections. A medicine called G-CSF (filgrastim) stimulates bone marrow and daily filgrastim shots are commonly used to shorten neutropenic periods and decrease infections after chemotherapy. Since filgrastim is customarily used on a fixed schedule starting early after chemotherapy and there are data that early doses may not be needed, this study tests new flexible schedule of filgrastim to optimize its use by reducing the number of painful shots, cost of treatment, and filgrastim side effects in children with cancer receiving chemotherapy.

Toxicities related to pediatric cancer treatment can lead to significant illness, organ damage, treatment delays, increased health care cost, and decrease in quality of life. Such toxicities are largely due to tissue damage sustained by chemotherapy, and strategies designed to limit such cellular damage to normal tissues may reduce therapy-related morbidity and mortality. In addition to their in vitro and in vivo anti-cancer effects, naturally occurring soy isoflavones have anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidant properties, and have been shown to reduce side effects of therapy in adult oncology clinical trials. This study will examine the effect of genistein, the major isoflavone component in soybeans and the most extensively studied of the soy isoflavones, on short-term side effects of myelosuppressive chemotherapy in pediatric cancer patients. Subjects will be randomized to receive either: a) 30 mg genistein daily throughout chemotherapy Cycles 1 and 2 and placebo during chemotherapy Cycles 3 and 4; or b) placebo daily during chemotherapy Cycles 1 and 2 and 30 mg genistein daily during chemotherapy Cycles 3 and 4. Investigators hypothesize that subjects will have fewer short-term therapy-related side effects during cycles of chemotherapy given in conjunction with genistein supplementation than cycles given with placebo.

This clinical trial studies yoga therapy in treating patients with malignant brain tumors. Yoga therapy may improve the quality of life of patients with brain tumors

This study proposes to treat patients with the combination of erlotinib and temozolomide. Patients with relapsed, recurrent, refractory, or high risk malignancies whose tumors possess a non-synonymous mutation in EGFR, ERBB2, or JAK2V617F (JAK2) will be eligible for the study. Very few phase 2 clinical trials have been performed in pediatrics using targeted agents in combination with conventional chemotherapy agents. Furthermore, since some combinations such as the combination of this study (erlotinib and temozolomide) have shown additive/synergistic effects in preclinical studies, therapy selecting for those patients who possess mutations targeted by the TKI of the study, may unveil activity that has not been previously observed. Thus, the investigators hope to determine whether the addition of additive/synergistic chemotherapy will increase efficacy of target agent and/or increase tumor susceptibility to targeted agent resulting in increased anti-tumor activity.

This phase I trial investigates the side effects and effectiveness of chemotherapy followed by a donor (allogeneic) stem cell transplant when given to patients with high grade brain cancer. Chemotherapy drugs, such as fludarabine, thiotepa, etoposide, melphalan, and rabbit anti-thymocyte globulin, work in different ways to stop the growth of tumor cells, either by killing the cells, by stopping them from dividing, or by stopping them from spreading. Giving chemotherapy before a donor stem cell transplant helps kill cancer cells in the body and helps make room in the patient's bone marrow for new blood-forming cells (stem cells) to grow. When the healthy stem cells from a donor are infused into a patient, they may help the patient's bone marrow make more healthy cells and platelets and may help destroy any remaining cancer cells.

This pilot clinical trial studies whole-body radiation therapy, systemic chemotherapy, and high-dose chemotherapy followed by stem cell rescue in treating patients with poor-risk Ewing sarcoma. Giving chemotherapy and radiation therapy before a peripheral blood stem cell or bone marrow transplant stops the growth of tumor cells by stopping them from dividing or killing them. After treatment, stem cells are collected from the patient's blood and stored. More chemotherapy is given to prepare the bone marrow for stem cell transplant. The stem cells are then returned to the patient to replace the blood-forming cells that were destroyed by the chemotherapy