Active clinical trials for "Pancreatic Neoplasms"

RATIONALE: Drugs used in chemotherapy, such as gemcitabine and cisplatin, work in different ways to stop the growth of tumor cells, either by killing the cells or by stopping them from dividing. Radiation therapy uses high-energy x-rays to kill tumor cells. Giving chemotherapy together with radiation therapy before surgery may make the tumor smaller and reduce the amount of normal tissue that needs to be removed. Giving chemotherapy after surgery may kill any tumor cells that remain after surgery. It is not yet know whether giving chemotherapy together with radiation therapy before surgery is more effective than surgery alone in treating pancreatic cancer. PURPOSE: This randomized phase II trial is studying how well giving gemcitabine and cisplatin together with radiation therapy before surgery works compared to surgery alone in treating patients with localized pancreatic cancer that can be removed by surgery.

The purpose of this study is to determine if imexon in combination with gemcitabine could improve overall survival as compared to gemcitabine alone in subjects with pancreatic cancer that has spread to other organs such as the liver or lungs. The study will also look at the safety of the combination as compared to gemcitabine alone. Participants in the study will be randomly assigned to either treatment and neither the participant or their doctors will know which treatment they will be receiving.

The purpose of this study is to determine the safety and tolerability of different doses of CP-675,206 in combination with gemcitabine and to determine the maximum dose of CP-675,206 that is well tolerated when given in combination with gemcitabine to patients with advanced pancreatic cancer.

This randomized phase I/II trial is studying the side effects and best dose of monoclonal antibody therapy when given together with gemcitabine hydrochloride and erlotinib hydrochloride and to see how well they work compared with giving gemcitabine hydrochloride and erlotinib hydrochloride alone as first-line therapy in treating patients with metastatic pancreatic cancer that cannot be removed by surgery. Drugs used in chemotherapy, such as gemcitabine hydrochloride, work in different ways to stop the growth of tumor cells, either by killing the cells or by stopping them from dividing. Erlotinib hydrochloride may stop the growth of tumor cells by blocking some of the enzymes needed for cell growth. Monoclonal antibodies can block tumor growth in different ways. Some block the ability of tumor cells to grow and spread. Others find tumor cells and help kill them or carry tumor-killing substances to them. Giving erlotinib hydrochloride and gemcitabine hydrochloride together with monoclonal antibody therapy may kill more tumor cells.

Because the activity of CC-4047 addresses numerous mechanisms of carcinoma growth inhibition - including, but not limited to anti-angiogenesis - CC-4047 has been selected for development as part of induction chemotherapy regimens for solid tumors. This study in pancreatic cancer is designed to determine the appropriate CC-4047 dose and regimen in combination with gemcitabine.

To determine the safety, feasibility and appropriate dendritic cell dose to vaccinate patients with pancreas cancer

Phase 1 safety, pharmacokinetics, and pharmacodynamics trial of the focal adhesion kinase (FAK) inhibitor PF-00562271 in patients with positive Positron Emission Tomography [PET] scans due to advanced non-hematologic malignancies, including pancreatic, head and neck, and prostatic neoplasms, and patients with other malignancies appropriate for serial biopsy. Screening consists of a Fluorodeoxyglucose Positron Emission Tomography [FDG-PET] and tumor imaging, medical history, physical examination, Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group [ECOG] performance status, blood draws, a pregnancy test for female patients of childbearing potential. Treatment consists of PF00562271 tablets continued until progression of disease, unacceptable toxicity, or patient request. Evaluations for bioactivity are measured by serial FDG-PET and blood tests for biomarkers related to FAK and PYK2 kinase activities.

The purpose of this study is to obtain preliminary safety and efficacy data after endoscopic ultrasound-guided celiac plexus neurolysis (EUS-CPN) in patients with locally advanced or unresectable pancreatic adenocarcinoma. Hypotheses: Increased amounts of alcohol used in EUS-CPN is safe and more efficacious in improving pain relief in patients with locally advanced or unresectable pancreatic adenocarcinoma. Effective pain relief obtained from EUS-CPN will be related to better quality of life (QOL)

This is a phase II study of biweekly (every other week) bevacizumab followed by gemcitabine then infusional 5-fluorouracil in patients with stage III or IV pancreatic cancer. Patients' response will be evaluated every 8 weeks using usual CT scanning techniques. RECIST (Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid tumors) criteria will be applied to evaluate response. Tumor marker levels (Ca 19-9) will be assessed every 4 weeks, but will not be used to measure response.

The objectives of this pilot study are: (i) to compare response to chemotherapy, time to disease progression and overall survival in patients with pancreatic cancer who will be treated with gemcitabine (or other nucleoside analogs) who demonstrate [18]F-FLT uptake to those patients who do not demonstrate [18]F-FLT uptake; (ii) to correlate [18]F-FLT uptake with hENT1 expression in biopsy samples where available; (iii)to determine the presence or absence of uptake, the relative uptake score (RUS), standardized uptake value (SUV), and tumor to background ratios (T/B) of [18]F-FLT in patients with known carcinoma of the pancreas and assess this uptake in relation to time to disease progression; and (iv) to demonstrate the safety of [18]F-FLT.