Active clinical trials for "Central Nervous System Neoplasms"

The purpose of this study is to find out what effects, good and/or bad, sunitinib has on patients and their tumors. At this time, no drugs are routinely used to treat meningioma, hemangioblastoma or hemangiopericytoma. Only surgery and radiation therapy are known to be useful. Sunitinib is a drug approved for advanced kidney cancer. Sunitinib is also being studied for other tumors. It may be useful in the treatment of brain tumors because it can prevent formation of new blood vessels that allow tumor cells to survive and grow.

RATIONALE: Sometimes a tumor may not need treatment until it progresses. In this case, observation may be sufficient. Specialized radiation therapy that delivers a high dose of radiation directly to the tumor, such as 3-dimensional conformal radiation therapy and intensity-modulated radiation therapy, may kill more tumor cells and cause less damage to normal tissue. It is not yet known whether observation is more effective than radiation therapy in treating patients with meningioma. PURPOSE: This phase II trial is studying observation to see how well it works compared with radiation therapy in treating patients with grade I, grade II, or grade III meningioma.

Dasatinib may stop the growth of tumor cells by blocking some of the enzymes needed for cell growth. It may also make tumor cells more sensitive to radiation therapy. Radiation therapy uses high-energy x-rays to kill tumor cells. 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. This randomized phase I/II trial is studying the best dose of dasatinib and to see how well it works compared with a placebo when given together with radiation therapy and temozolomide in treating patients with newly diagnosed glioblastoma multiforme.

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: Radiation therapy uses high-energy x-rays to kill tumor cells. 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 radiation therapy together with temozolomide may kill more tumor cells. It is not yet known whether radiation therapy and temozolomide are more effective than radiation therapy alone in treating glioblastoma multiforme. PURPOSE: This randomized phase III trial is studying radiation therapy and temozolomide to see how well they work compared with radiation therapy alone in treating patients with newly diagnosed glioblastoma multiforme.

RATIONALE: Monoclonal antibodies, such as bevacizumab, 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. Bevacizumab may also stop the growth of tumor cells by blocking blood flow to the tumor. Drugs used in chemotherapy, such as irinotecan, work in different ways to stop the growth of tumor cells, either by killing the cells or by stopping them from dividing. Giving bevacizumab together with irinotecan may kill more tumors cells. PURPOSE: This phase II trial is studying the side effects of bevacizumab and how well giving bevacizumab together with irinotecan works in treating patients with recurrent or refractory gliomas.

RATIONALE: Radiation therapy uses high-energy x-rays to kill tumor cells. Drugs used in chemotherapy work in different ways to stop the growth of tumor cells, either by killing the cells or by stopping them from dividing. Giving radiation therapy in different ways and giving it together with more than one drug (combination chemotherapy) may kill more tumor cells. It is not yet known which radiation therapy and combination chemotherapy regimen is more effective in treating medulloblastoma, supratentorial primitive neuroectodermal tumor (PNET), or ependymoma. PURPOSE: This clinical trial is studying six different radiation therapy and combination chemotherapy regimens to compare how well they work in treating young patients with medulloblastoma, PNET, or ependymoma.

RATIONALE: Drugs used in chemotherapy, such as paclitaxel, work in different ways to stop the growth of tumor cells, either by killing the cells or by stopping them from dividing. Lapatinib may help paclitaxel work better by making tumor cells more sensitive to the drug. Lapatinib may also stop the growth of tumor cells by blocking some of the enzymes needed for cell growth. Giving lapatinib together with paclitaxel may kill more tumor cells. PURPOSE: This phase I trial is studying the side effects and best dose of lapatinib when given together with paclitaxel in treating patients with advanced solid tumors.

The purpose of this study is to determine the safety of Velcade when used with chemoradiation in cancer patients.

RATIONALE: Monoclonal antibodies, such as bevacizumab, 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. Bevacizumab may also block blood flow to the tumor. Drugs used in chemotherapy, such as irinotecan, work in different ways to stop the growth of tumor cells, either by killing the cells or by stopping them from dividing. Giving bevacizumab together with irinotecan may kill more tumor cells. Diagnostic procedures, such as MRI, may help doctors predict a patient's response to treatment and help plan the best treatment. PURPOSE: This phase II trial is studying how well giving bevacizumab together with irinotecan works in treating patients with recurrent malignant glioma and how well MRI predicts response to treatment.