Active clinical trials for "Leukemia"

RATIONALE: Studying samples of bone marrow 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 research study is studying biomarkers in bone marrow samples from patients with T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

RATIONALE: Studying samples of bone marrow from patients with cancer in the laboratory may help doctors identify and learn more about biomarkers related to cancer. PURPOSE: This research study is looking at biomarkers in bone marrow samples from young patients with acute myeloid leukemia.

The purpose of this study is to see if a new way of imaging called the Cerenkov luminescence or effect that is used with a standard clinical PET/CT and/or investigation scans can be done in order to capture tumor sizes. The investigators believe endoscopies and surgical procedures could benefit from this type of imaging in the future. The Cerenkov imaging could be used as a guide for surgical resections. The purpose of this study is to use the Cerenkov light from FDG, Iodine-131 tracer sand/or other investigational tracers to image tumors and its sizes in the head, neck, breast, axillary and pelvic regions with a highly sensitive camera. The investigators will be trying to see if we can get another picture of the tumor using the Cerenkov light as part of the standard clinical scan or therapy.

High-dose methotrexate therapy (HDMTX) is an important part of treatment of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). HDMTX would be improved substantially if it were possible to predict the clearance of MTX for each patient and use this to tailor an individualized dosing of the drug. However, only about 3.7, 0.2, and 2% of the inter-individual variation in MTX clearance is explained by age, gender and ancestry, respectively. Genetic variation seems to explain about 10% of this difference, and SNPs in genes encoding transporter proteins (e.g. organic anion transporter 1B1 (OATP1B1) and reduced folate carrier (RFC)) are suggested to have a particular large impact. A serious limitation to the applicability of SNPs in prediction of MTX pharmacokinetics, however, is the substantial intra-individual variation in MTX clearance. The intra-individual variation in MTX clearance is related to renal function but a large amount of a HDMTX dose also enters the liver, where it is metabolized to 7-hydroxy MTX and probably also undergoes enterohepatic circulation. Thus, the aim of this study is to determine the role of the liver and renal function in MTX pharmacokinetics, and evaluate the predictive potential of pharmacogenetic (e.g. the rfc SNP) and pharmacokinetic parameters of MTX elimination during HDMTX.

RATIONALE: Diagnostic procedures that find residual disease may help predict if the disease will come back in patients diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia. PURPOSE: This research trial studies the comparison of laboratory test results for minimal residual disease in samples from patients with acute myeloid leukemia.

RATIONALE: Testing for minimal residual disease in cell samples from patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia may help doctors plan better treatment. PURPOSE: This research trial studies a genetic test in identifying previously undetectable minimal residual disease in cell samples from younger patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

This prospective observational study will evaluate the safety of MabThera/Rituxan (rituximab) in combination with chemotherapy in patients with previously untreated or relapsed/refractory B cell-lineage chronic lymphocytic leukaemia. Data will be collected from each patient for 6-12 months, depending on the prescribed chemotherapy regimen.

RATIONALE: Infection prophylaxis and management may help prevent cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection caused by a stem cell transplant. PURPOSE:This clinical trial studies infection prophylaxis and management in treating cytomegalovirus infection in patients with hematologic malignancies previously treated with donor stem cell transplant.

RATIONALE: Studying bone marrow samples from patients with cancer in the laboratory may help doctors learn more about changes that occur in DNA and identify biomarkers related to cancer. PURPOSE: This research study is studying biomarkers in samples from young patients with acute myeloid leukemia.

This is a non-therapeutic study. Pediatric AML patients undergoing HCT with a myeloablative preparative regimen may be enrolled. Subjects can be enrolled 10-40 days prior to HCT. Three samples for MRD (measured by WT1 PCR and flow cytometry) will be collected from peripheral blood and bone marrow: 1) pre-HCT (<3 weeks prior to starting the preparative regimen), 2) day 42 +/- 14 days post HCT (early post-engraftment), and 3) day 100 (+/-20 days) post HCT. For two years after transplant, the subject's follow-up data will be collected using the Research Level Forms in the CIBMTR Forms Net internet data entry system. The main objective is to determine whether there is any association between level of pre-transplant and post-transplant bone marrow MRD using WT1 and flow cytometry with 2-year event-free-survival, and to estimate the strength of that association in terms of the predictive accuracy of MRD. The investigators hypothesize that measurable MRD at either time point will be associated with decreased 2-year event-free survival.