Active clinical trials for "Leukemia"

This is a study for patients who have been previously treated for B-ALL. The purpose of this study is to determine the safety and feasibility of CART-19 cells to the patients with relapsed and refractory CD19+ B-ALL.

RATIONALE: Vaccines made from a peptide may help the body build an effective immune response to kill cancer cells. Colony-stimulating factors, such as GM-CSF, increase the number of white blood cells and platelets found in bone marrow or peripheral blood. Giving vaccine therapy together with GM-CSF may be an effective treatment for acute myeloid leukemia. It is not yet known whether giving vaccine therapy together with GM-CSF is more effective than giving placebo together with GM-CSF in treating acute myeloid leukemia. PURPOSE: This randomized phase III trial is studying vaccine therapy and GM-CSF to see how well they work compared with a placebo and GM-CSF in treating patients with acute myeloid leukemia in remission.

Study Design: prospective phase II trial with 30 patients in 1 site Treatment Scheme: Option 1: Patient < 60 years of age with relapse after chemotherapy or > 12 months after hematopoetic stem cell transplantation Mylotarg 6 mg/ m² day -21 Mylotarg 3 mg/ m² day -14 Fludarabin 30 mg/ m² day -6 to -3 TBI 2x2 Gy day -3 to -2 (total dose 8 Gy) Tacrolimus (level adapted) from day -3 on Mycophenolat 2 x 1000 mg p.o. from day 0 to day 40 PBSC day 0 Option 2: Patient > 60 years of age or younger patients < 12 Months after hematopoetic stem cell transplantation Mylotarg 6 mg/ m² day -21 Mylotarg 3 mg/ m² day -14 Fludarabin 30 mg/ m² day -3 to -1 TBI 1x2 Gy day 0 (total dose 2 Gy) Tacrolimus (level adapted) from day -3 on Mycophenolat 2 x 1000 mg p.o. from day 0 to 40 PBSC day 0

RATIONALE: Studying samples of semen from cancer survivors in the laboratory may help doctors learn more about changes that occur in DNA and identify biomarkers related to cancer. PURPOSE: This phase I research study is looking at the presence of donor-derived DNA in semen samples form cancer survivors who underwent donor stem cell transplant.

Refractory acute leukemia (AL) occurs in a significant percentage of the AL patients and presents a therapeutic challenge. Allogeneic stem cell transplantation (allo-SCT) is the only curative option for these patients. Although many of the patients with refractory AL that undergo myeloablative SCT initially achieve complete remission, most relapse later on, and the long-term disease free survival is poor. In order to achieve better leukemic control, most transplant centers employ post transplant early withdrawal of the anti-GVHD immunosuppression; hence exposing the patients to high risk of GVHD associated morbidity and mortality. This study will try to address this common scenario, namely early and late relapse. The investigators will try to attain better leukemic control by re-inducing the patients, 6 weeks after the 1st transplant with further myeloablative treatment (busulfex and thiotepa) followed by allogeneic stem cell support (transplant II).

Dendritic cells vaccinations are increasingly used in order to develop antitumoral immune response. This will be a Phase 2 trial using autologous dendritic cells pulsed with leukemic apoptotic corpse in acute myelogenous leukemia (AML) patients in first or second Complete remission (CR).

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the level of a specific protein (PTEN) in the cancer cells of chronic myelomonocytic leukemia (CMML) patients. This protein might be involved in the transformation from normal blood cells to leukemia cells. The PTEN protein has not been investigated in CMML specifically but it has been discovered in closely related cancers. If this study demonstrates an abnormality in this protein, future testing will be designed to evaluate the genetic abnormality that resulted in lack of the normal presence of this protein. The goal is that the results of this study will help to develop new drugs and strategies to treat the future patients with CMML by understanding the abnormality of the disease at the cellular and molecular levels. The results of this study can also be utilized by future studies to develop individualized treatment to patients who have abnormal levels of this protein.

RATIONALE: Drugs used in chemotherapy work in different ways to stop the growth of cancer cells, either by killing the cells or by stopping them from dividing. Giving more than one drug (combination chemotherapy) may kill more cancer cells. Monoclonal antibodies, such as rituximab, can block cancer growth in different ways. Some block the ability of cancer cells to grow and spread. Others find cancer cells and help kill them or carry cancer-killing substances to them. It is not yet known which regimen of combination chemotherapy given together with or without monoclonal antibodies is more effective in treating patients with newly diagnosed acute lymphoblastic leukemia. PURPOSE: This randomized phase III trial is studying standard chemotherapy to see how well it works when given together with or without rituximab, and with or without nelarabine in treating patients with newly diagnosed acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

RATIONALE: Studying a diagnostic biomarker test in blood samples from patients who have undergone a donor stem cell transplant for cancer may help doctors plan treatment. PURPOSE: This clinical trial is studying an immunologic diagnostic blood test to see how well it works in predicting side-effects in patients with hematologic cancer or other disorders who have undergone a donor stem cell transplant.

The patient receive 2 different drug combinations on this study. The first combination will consist of an intensive chemotherapy regimen (cyclophosphamide, mesna, methotrexate, doxorubicin liposomal or doxorubicin, vincristine, ARA-C (cytarabine) and dexamethasone). The second combination will consist of another intensive chemotherapy regimen (methotrexate and Ara-C [cytarabine]).