Active clinical trials for "Leukemia"

RATIONALE: STI571 may interfere with the growth of cancer cells and may be effective treatment for chronic myelogenous leukemia. PURPOSE: Phase II trial to study the effectiveness of STI571 in treating patients who have chronic myeloid leukemia that has not responded to interferon alfa.

RATIONALE: Monoclonal antibodies such as gemtuzumab ozogamicin can locate cancer cells and either kill them or deliver cancer-killing substances to them without harming normal cells. Drugs used in chemotherapy uses different ways to stop cancer cells from dividing so they stop growing or die. Combining gemtuzumab ozogamicin with chemotherapy may kill more cancer cells. PURPOSE: Phase II trial to study the effectiveness of gemtuzumab ozogamicin with or without chemotherapy in treating older patients who have acute myeloid leukemia.

RATIONALE: Radiation therapy uses high-energy x-rays to damage tumor cells. Peripheral stem cell transplantation may be able to replace immune cells that were destroyed by radiation therapy used to kill tumor cells. Infusions of donor white blood cells may decrease the body's rejection of the transplanted peripheral stem cells. PURPOSE: Phase II trial to study the effectiveness of combining radiation therapy, peripheral stem cell transplantation, and donor white blood cell infusions in treating older patients who have acute myeloid leukemia.

RATIONALE: Drugs used in chemotherapy use different ways to stop cancer cells from dividing so they stop growing or die. Interleukin-2 may stimulate a person's white blood cells to kill leukemia cells. Treating donor white blood cells with interleukin-2 in the laboratory may help them kill more cancer cells. PURPOSE: This phase I/II trial is studying the side effects and best dose of interleukin-2 when given after chemotherapy and donor white blood cells and to see how well they work in treating patients with acute myeloid leukemia or acute lymphoid leukemia.

RATIONALE: Drugs used in chemotherapy use different ways to stop cancer cells from dividing so they stop growing or die. Alternating treatment with more than one drug may kill more cancer cells. PURPOSE: Phase II trial to study the effectiveness of fludarabine alternating with cyclophosphamide in treating patients who have previously untreated chronic lymphocytic leukemia.

The are a variety of cancerous diseases of the blood and bone marrow that can be potentially cured by bone marrow transplantation (BMT). Diseases like leukemia, lymphoma, and multiple myeloma are among the conditions that can be treated with BMT. Some patients with these diseases can be treated with medical chemotherapy alone. However, patients who relapse following chemotherapy are usually not curable with additional chemotherapy treatments. The only option known to provide a potential cure if this occurs is BMT. Allogenic transplants are cells collected from relatives of the patient. The transplant requires additional high intensity chemotherapy and radiation in order to destroy cancerous cells. In the process, many normal bone marrow cells are also destroyed. This is the reason for transplanting stem cells. The stem cells help to build new functioning bone marrow, red cells, white cells, and platelets. In addition, the immune cells from the donor are implanted into the recipient s body and help to fight off infection and kill remaining cancerous cells. Unfortunately, the powerful doses of chemotherapy and radiation therapy associated with allogenic BMT have toxic side effects and often make BMTs too dangerous to attempt in many patients. In order to reduce the complications of BMT, and make it a safer available option for patients with cancers of the blood and bone marrow, researchers have developed a new approach to the BMT. In this study researchers plan to use stem cells collected from the blood stream of patient s relatives rather than from the bone marrow (blood progenitor/stem cell transplant). In addition, researchers plan to use low doses of chemotherapy and no radiation therapy to reduce side effects. The majority of the cancer killing effect will be the responsibility of the stem cell transplant rather than the chemotherapy.

This phase II trial studies the side effects and how well giving busulfan and etoposide followed by peripheral blood stem cell transplant (PBSCT) and low-dose aldesleukin works in treating patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Drugs used in chemotherapy, such as busulfan and etoposide, work in different ways to stop the growth of cancer cells, either by killing the cells or by stopping them from dividing. A PBSCT may be able to replace blood-forming cells that were destroyed by chemotherapy. This may allow more chemotherapy to be given so that more cancer cells are killed. Aldesleukin may stimulate the white blood cells to kill cancer cells. Giving busulfan and etoposide together followed by PBSCT and aldesleukin may be an effective treatment for AML.

This randomized phase III trial is studying tretinoin and combination chemotherapy to see how well they work compared to tretinoin, combination chemotherapy, and arsenic trioxide in treating patients with acute promyelocytic leukemia that has not been treated previously. Drugs used in chemotherapy, such as daunorubicin, cytarabine, mercaptopurine, methotrexate, and arsenic trioxide, work in different ways to stop cancer cells from dividing so they stop growing or die. Tretinoin may help leukemia cells develop into normal white blood cells. It is not yet known which regimen is more effective for acute promyelocytic leukemia.

This study will evaluate the safety and effectiveness of stem cell transplantation in which the donors T lymphocytes have undergone "selective depletion." Certain patients with cancers of the blood undergo transplantation of donated stem cells to generate new and normally functioning bone marrow. In addition to producing the new bone marrow, the donor's T-lymphocytes also fight any tumor cells that might have remained in the body. This attack on tumor cells is called a "graft-versus-leukemia" (GVL) effect. However, another type of T-lymphocyte from the donor may cause what is called "graft-versus-host-disease" (GVHD), in which the donor cells recognize the patient's cells as foreign and mount an immune response to reject them. Selective depletion is a technique that was developed to remove the T-lymphocytes that cause harmful GVHD, while keeping those that produce the desirable GVL effect.

RATIONALE: Monoclonal antibodies can locate cancer cells and either kill them or deliver cancer-killing substances to them without harming normal cells. Interleukin-2 may stimulate a person's white blood cells to kill leukemia or lymphoma cells. Combining these two therapies may be an effective treatment for leukemia and lymphoma. PURPOSE: Phase I/II trial to study the effectiveness of monoclonal antibody therapy plus interleukin-2 in treating patients who have leukemia or lymphoma.