Active clinical trials for "Central Nervous System Neoplasms"

RATIONALE: Drugs used in chemotherapy use different ways to stop tumor cells from dividing so they stop growing or die. Radiation therapy uses high-energy x-rays to damage tumor cells. Combining chemotherapy with radiation therapy may kill more tumor cells. PURPOSE: Phase II trial to study the effectiveness of irinotecan followed by radiation therapy and temozolomide in treating children who have newly diagnosed brain tumor.

RATIONALE: Drugs used in chemotherapy use different ways to stop tumor cells from dividing so they stop growing or die. Radiation therapy uses high-energy x-rays to damage tumor cells. Combining chemotherapy and radiation therapy may kill more tumor cells. PURPOSE: Phase II trial to study the effectiveness of combining temozolomide with radiation therapy in treating patients who have newly diagnosed anaplastic oligodendrogliomas or mixed anaplastic oligoastrocytomas.

RATIONALE: EMD 121974 may stop the growth of cancer by stopping blood flow to the tumor. PURPOSE: Phase I/II trial to study the effectiveness of EMD 121974 in treating patients who have progressive or recurrent malignant glioma.

RATIONALE: Drugs used in chemotherapy use different ways to stop tumor cells from dividing so they stop growing or die. Thalidomide may stop the growth of cancer by stopping blood flow to the tumor. PURPOSE: Phase II trial to study the effectiveness of combining temozolomide and thalidomide in treating patients who have recurrent or progressive brain tumor.

RATIONALE: Drugs used in chemotherapy use different ways to stop tumor cells from dividing so they stop growing or die. Radiation therapy uses high-energy x-rays to damage tumor cells. Combining more than one chemotherapy drug with radiation therapy may kill more tumor cells. PURPOSE: Phase I trial to study the effectiveness of combination chemotherapy plus radiation therapy in treating patients with newly diagnosed brain stem glioma.

The purpose of the study is to evaluate the combination of amifostine and high dose chemotherapy with blood stem cell support. Amifostine is a druf developed to protect normal tissues against the toxicities of chemotherapy and radiotherapy and has reduced the side effects of chemotherapy given at conventional doses.

RATIONALE: Drugs used in chemotherapy use different ways to stop tumor cells from dividing so they stop growing or die. Combining more than one drug may kill more tumor cells. PURPOSE: Phase II trial to study the effectiveness of combination chemotherapy using paclitaxel and topotecan, plus G-CSF, in treating patients with glioblastoma multiforme or anaplastic astrocytoma that is refractory or recurrent.

RATIONALE: Inserting the gene for herpes virus into a person's cells may improve the body's ability to fight cancer or make the cancer more sensitive to chemotherapy using antiviral drugs such as ganciclovir. PURPOSE: Phase I trial to study the effectivenesss of gene therapy in treating patients with primary brain tumors.

This is an open-label, single arm study evaluating a multi-peptide (tumor-associated antigens)/Montanide vaccine in patients < 21 years of age with recurrent or refractory CNS tumors. The study primarily evaluates the safety of this regimen. Secondarily, immunogenicity and anti-tumor effects will be assessed. The primary aim is to evaluate the safety of subcutaneous injections of tumor associated antigens (TAA) mixed with Montanide ISA-51VG in patients with recurrent or refractory brain tumors. The secondary aims are to evaluate cellular immune responses induced in patients after subcutaneous injection of TAA mixed with Montanide ISA-51VG and to document tumor response in patients with measurable disease or time to progression in patients without measurable disease following subcutaneous injection of TAA mixed with Montanide ISA-51VG.

RATIONALE: Veliparib may stop the growth of tumor cells by blocking some of the enzymes needed for cell growth. Drugs used in chemotherapy, such as temozolomide. work in different ways to stop the growth of tumor cells, either by killing the cells or by stopping them from dividing. Giving veliparib together with temozolomide may kill more tumor cells. PURPOSE: This randomized phase I/II trial is studying the side effects and best dose of giving veliparib together with temozolomide and to see how well it works in treating patients with recurrent glioblastoma.