Active clinical trials for "Leukemia"

RATIONALE: Drugs used in chemotherapy work in different ways to stop cancer cells from dividing so they stop growing or die. Combining more than one chemotherapy drug may kill more cancer cells. It is not yet known which combination chemotherapy regimen is more effective for acute lymphoblastic leukemia. PURPOSE: Phase III trial to determine the effectiveness of combination chemotherapy in treating children who have newly diagnosed acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

RATIONALE: Drugs used in chemotherapy use different ways to stop cancer cells from dividing so they stop growing or die. PURPOSE: Phase II trial to study the effectiveness of arsenic trioxide in treating 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. It is not yet known if stronger doses of chemotherapy given over a longer period of time are as well tolerated or as effective as less intensive chemotherapy. PURPOSE: This randomized phase III trial is studying intensive regimens of chemotherapy to see how well they work compared to nonintensive regimens of chemotherapy in treating older patients with acute myeloid leukemia or myelodysplastic syndrome.

RATIONALE: Giving chemotherapy and total-body irradiation before a donor bone marrow transplant helps stop the growth of cancer cells. It also helps stop the patient's immune system from rejecting the donor's stem cells. When the stem cells from a related or unrelated donor, that closely matches the patient's blood, are infused into the patient they may help the patient's bone marrow to make stem cells, red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets. PURPOSE: This phase II trial is studying how well donor bone marrow transplant works in treating patients with leukemia, lymphoma, or nonmalignant hematologic disorders.

The goal of this clinical research study is to find the highest safe dose of RAD001 that can be given as a treatment for leukemia, mantle cell lymphoma, or myelofibrosis. Another goal is to learn how effective the dose that is found is as a treatment.

The purpose of this study is to explore the effect of music imagery on patients receiving intensive chemotherapy for acute leukemia or high-grade non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.

This phase I trial is studying the side effects and best dose of bortezomib in treating young patients with refractory or recurrent leukemia. Bortezomib may stop the growth of cancer cells by blocking the enzymes necessary for their growth.

This study will evaluate the effectiveness of an experimental drug called LMB-2 for treating chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) in patients who have a protein called cluster of differentiation 25 (CD25) on their cancer cells. LMB-2 is a recombinant immunotoxin. It is made up of two parts: a genetically engineered monoclonal antibody that binds to cancer cells with CD25 on their surface, and a toxin produced by bacteria that kills the cancer cells to which it binds. LMB-2 has killed CD 25-containing cells in laboratory experiments and has caused tumors in mice to shrink. Preliminary studies in humans have shown some effectiveness in shrinking tumors in patients with various types of lymph and blood cancers. Patients 18 years of age and older with CLL who have CD25 receptor proteins on their cancer cells and whose disease has progressed within 2 years of treatment with fludarabine may be eligible for this study. Candidates are screened with a medical history and physical examination, blood and urine tests, electrocardiogram (EKG), echocardiogram, chest x-ray, computed tomography (CT) scans of the chest, abdomen and pelvis, and a bone marrow biopsy. Participants receive up to six cycles of LMB-2 therapy. Each 28-day cycle consists of 30-minute infusions of LMB-2 on cycle days 1, 3, and 5. The drug is infused through an intravenous (IV) catheter (plastic tube placed in a vein) or a central venous line-an IV tube placed in a large vein in the neck or chest that leads to the heart. Patients are admitted to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Clinical Center for the first treatment cycle. If the infusion is well tolerated, subsequent cycles may be given on an outpatient basis. In addition to drug therapy, patients undergo the following procedures: Blood draws: Blood is drawn before, during, and after each LMB-2 infusion to measure blood levels of the drug, evaluate its effects on the cancer cells, and monitor side effects. Blood tests are also done before and during each cycle to determine how the immune system is interacting with the drug. Disease evaluations: Patients undergo a physical examination, blood tests, chest x-ray, and EKG before each treatment cycle and at follow-up visits. With the patient's permission, CT scans, echocardiogram, and bone marrow biopsies may be repeated before some treatment cycles if these tests prove useful in evaluating the disease response to LMB-2. Patients may receive up to six cycles of LMB-2 as long as their cancer does not worsen and they do not develop serious side effects. At the end of the treatment cycles, patients will have blood tests done weekly by their local physician, and the results will be sent to the NCI study investigators.

This study is for patients that have chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). This research study aims to determine the safety and dosage of special cells that may make the patients own immune system fight the cancer. To do this, we will put a special gene into cancer cells that have been taken from the patients body. This will be done in the laboratory. This gene will make the cells produce interleukin 2 (IL-2), which is a natural substance that may help the immune system kill cancer cells. Additionally, we will stimulate the cancer cells with another natural protein called CD40 ligand (CD40L), which experiments in animal and human cells in vitro demonstrated can help IL-2 perform better. Some of these cells will then be put back into the patient's body. Studies of cancers in animals and in cancer cells that are grown in laboratories suggest that combining substances like IL-2 and CD40L helps the body kill cancer cells. An experimental treatment similar to this has already been used in children and similar experimental treatments are being used in adults with other cancers.

RATIONALE: Drugs used in chemotherapy, such as VNP40101M and hydroxyurea, work in different ways to stop cancer cells from dividing so they stop growing or die. Hydroxyurea may help VNP40101M kill more cancer cells by making cancer cells more sensitive to the drug. PURPOSE: This phase II trial is studying how well giving VNP40101M with hydroxyurea works in treating patients with acute myelogenous leukemia or high-risk myelodysplasia.