Active clinical trials for "Prostatic Neoplasms"

The major goal is to determine whether the experimental agent has clinically promising activity that would merit progression to a formal phase III trial. Patients with hormone refractory prostate cancer after docetaxel chemotherapy have limited treatment options and no systemic treatment has been proven to be effective. Because of its action, safety and simple administration SU011248 has potential for effectiveness in this disease setting. Promising activity in this study would provide the necessary proof-of-principle for a larger confirmatory study in this population, and potentially in earlier stages of this common disease.

RATIONALE: Radiation therapy uses high-energy x-rays to kill tumor cells. Androgens can cause the growth of prostate cancer cells. Androgen deprivation therapy, such as goserelin, leuprolide, or bicalutamide, may lessen the amount of androgens made by the body. Giving radiation therapy together with androgen deprivation therapy may kill more prostate cancer cells. PURPOSE: This randomized phase III trial is studying how well giving radiation therapy together with androgen deprivation therapy works in treating patients who have undergone surgery for prostate cancer.

RATIONALE: Studying samples of blood 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 predict how patients will respond to treatment. PURPOSE: This clinical trial is evaluating DNA mutations in predicting the effect of external-beam radiation therapy in patients with early breast cancer, localized prostate cancer, or gynecologic cancer.

This study will compare high intensity focused ultrasound to standard brachytherapy in the treatment of primary, organ confined prostate cancer.

RATIONALE: Androgens can cause the growth of prostate cancer cells. Androgen ablation therapy may lessen the amount of androgens made by the body. Drugs used in chemotherapy, such as docetaxel, work in different ways to stop the growth of tumor cells, either by killing the cells or by stopping them from dividing. It is not yet known whether giving androgen ablation therapy together with docetaxel is more effective than giving androgen ablation therapy alone in treating patients with advanced prostate cancer. PURPOSE: This randomized phase III trial is studying androgen ablation and docetaxel to see how well they work compared with androgen ablation alone in treating patients with advanced prostate cancer.

The study aims to evaluate if adding vertebroplasty to radiotherapy, in the treatment of spine metastasis from breast and prostate cancer, is preferable to radiotherapy alone. The investigators hypothesize that, by combining vertebral augmentation with cement and radiotherapy, they could achieve an enhancement in pain relief and level of activities, as well as a decrease in the side effects of multiple medications used for pain control.

RATIONALE: Androgens can cause the growth of prostate cancer cells. Hormone therapy, such as cyproterone acetate may stop the adrenal glands from making androgens. Sometimes the tumor may not need treatment until it progresses. In this case, observation may be sufficient. It is not yet known whether giving cyproterone acetate continuously is more effective than giving cyproterone acetate after tumor progression in treating prostate cancer. PURPOSE: This randomized phase III trial is studying cyproterone acetate to compare how well it works when given continuously or after tumor progression in treating patients with newly diagnosed stage III or stage IV prostate cancer.

RATIONALE: Specialized radiation therapy that delivers a high dose of radiation directly to the tumor may kill more tumor cells and cause less damage to normal tissue. It is not yet known which schedule of intensity-modulated radiation therapy is more effective in treating patients with prostate cancer. PURPOSE: This randomized phase III trial is studying the side effects of three schedules of intensity-modulated radiation therapy and compares how well they work in treating patients with localized prostate cancer.

Prostate cancer is the most common malignancy in males, and radiotherapy is a commonly chosen treatment option for patients with localized disease. Technical innovations such as three-dimensional conformal radiotherapy (3D CRT) and intensity-modulated radiotherapy permit radiation dose escalation and possibly better disease outcomes, but escalated doses may be accompanied by long-term complications. This study will examine, for the first time, the independent contribution of a patient's own genetic makeup to the development of post-radiation complications, permitting the future development of predictive tests to avoid radiation injury. To do this, the investigators will examine gene markers and blood proteins in a series of approximately 100 prostate cancer survivors who have received three-dimensional conformal radiotherapy between 1996 and 2000 at the Cross Cancer Institute.

RATIONALE: Radiolabeled monoclonal antibodies can locate tumor cells and either kill them or deliver tumor-killing substances to them without harming normal cells. Drugs used in chemotherapy use different ways to stop tumor cells from dividing so they stop growing or die. Combining monoclonal antibody therapy and chemotherapy with peripheral stem cell transplantation may be an effective treatment for metastatic prostate cancer. PURPOSE: Phase I trial to study the effectiveness of monoclonal antibody therapy plus chemotherapy followed by peripheral stem cell transplantation in treating patients who have metastatic prostate cancer that has not responded to hormone therapy.