Purpose: The purpose of this trial is to collect blood serum from cancer patients with tumors at different disease sites (such as pancreas, head and neck, and breast) prior to and at subsequent points following anti-cancer therapy to discover novel serum markers of response.
Clinical Trials
AZD2171 in Treating Patients With Malignant Mesothelioma That Cannot Be Removed By Surgery
Rationale: AZD2171 may stop the growth of tumor cells by blocking some of the enzymes needed for cell growth and by blocking blood flow to the tumor.
Purpose: This phase II trial is studying how well AZD2171 works in treating patients with malignant mesothelioma that cannot be removed by surgery.
Suberoylanilide Hydroxamic Acid Vorinostat, MK0683 Versus Placebo in Advanced Malignant Pleural Mesothelioma
Purpose: This is a study to determine the safety, tolerability, and anti-tumor effectiveness of an oral investigational drug, suberoylanilide hydroxamic acid, in the treatment of advanced malignant pleural mesothelioma.
- Arm 1: Vorinostat
- Drug: Comparator: Suberoylanilide Hydroxamic Acid (Vorinostat, MK0683)
Vorinostat 300 mg capsules twice daily for 3 consecutive days of treatment followed by 4 days of rest repeated weekly, in 21-day cycles. Treatment will continue until disease progression or unacceptable toxicity. - Arm 2: Placebo Comparator
- Drug: Comparator: Placebo
Placebo capsules twice daily for 3 consecutive days of treatment followed by 4 days of rest repeated weekly, in 21-day cycles. Treatment will continue until disease progression or unacceptable toxicity.
Early Diagnosis of Lung Cancer and Mesothelioma in Prior Asbestos Workers
Purpose: Occupational exposure to asbestos is known increase the risk of developing cancer of the lungs (bronchogenic carcinoma) or of the pleura (mesothelioma). Symptoms are subtle and non-specific, diagnosis is often late and the prognosis consequently is dismal. Currently there is no accepted non-invasive tool for the early diagnosis of mesothelioma or lung cancer in asbestos-exposed subjects. In the last decade, low-dose computed tomography (LDCT) has been successfully developed and validated for the early diagnosis of lung cancer in high-risk smokers. Malignant mesothelioma might, in an early stage, resemble a benign pleural plaque, which is a common finding after asbestos exposure. We target to develop low-dose CT as a tool to serially image the pleural plaques, quantify their individual and overall volume, compute the growth rate with time, and, as such, identify the presence of mesothelioma early, before symptoms occur.
Depsipeptide/Flavopiridol Infusion for Cancers of the Lungs, Esophagus, Pleura, Thymus or Mediastinum
Purpose: This study will test the safety and effectiveness of two experimental medicines – depsipeptide and flavopiridol – given together to treat cancers of the lung, esophagus, and pleura. It will determine the highest dose that these drugs can safely be given together and will test whether giving them together works better at shrinking tumors than giving either one alone.
Patients 18 years of age and older with cancer of the lung, esophagus, or pleura, or other cancers that have spread to the lungs or pleura may be eligible for this study. Candidates are screened with a medical history and physical examination, blood tests, electrocardiogram (EKG), x-rays and scans, pulmonary function tests, and a tumor biopsy (removal of a small piece of tumor tissue for microscopic examination).
Participants are admitted to the hospital for treatment for approximately 10 days during each 28-day treatment cycle. Depsipeptide is infused through an arm vein or central venous catheter (tube placed in a large vein in the neck or chest) for 4 hours. When this infusion is complete, flavopiridol is infused over 72 hours. The dose of depsipeptide is increased four times over the period of the study with successive groups of patients, and flavopiridol is increased once to determine the maximum safe dose of giving these drugs together.
Blood tests are done before and after each depsipeptide infusion and 3 more times for the next 24 hours, and at various times over 4 days during the flavopiridol infusion to evaluate the effects of the medicines. Samples are also drawn periodically throughout the treatment cycle to evaluate safety. Heart function is monitored with several EKGs before and during the depsipeptide doses. The drug has shown effects on EKG tracings, but does not appear to injure the heart muscle.
Tumor biopsies are done before treatment begins and on the fifth day of the first treatment cycle. The biopsies may be done either in the operating room by passing a tube (bronchoscope) down the throat and into the lungs or in the Radiology Department using a thin needle put through the chest wall into the tumor. For the bronchoscopy, numbing medicine is sprayed into the back of the throat to reduce discomfort, and for the needle biopsy, the skin over the biopsy area is numbed. Optional repeat biopsies may be requested before the start of the second treatment cycle and on day 5 of that cycle. (The repeat biopsies are not required for participation in the study.) At the time of each tumor biopsy, a buccal mucosal biopsy is also done. This involves scraping a tongue depressor along the inside of the mouth to collect cells for examination.
At the end of the first treatment cycle, patients return to NIH for evaluation with a physical examination, blood work, x-rays, and scans of the chest, abdomen, pelvis, and brain. Patients who are not experiencing significant drug side effects are offered a second cycle, exactly like the first. The two cycles complete one course of treatment, after which patients once again return to NIH for evaluation. Additional treatment cycles may be offered to patients whose tumors have shrunk or remained stable with therapy. Patients whose tumors have not responded to therapy or who have developed severe drug side effects are taken off the study.
Pemetrexed Plus Gemcitabine as Front-Line Chemotherapy for Patients With Malignant Pleural or Peritoneal Mesothelioma
Purpose: The purposes of this study are to determine:
- The safety of Pemetrexed plus Gemcitabine and any side effects that might be associated with the combination of these two drugs.
- Whether Pemetrexed plus Gemcitabine can help patients with mesothelioma live longer.
- Whether Pemetrexed plus Gemcitabine can make the tumor smaller or disappear, and for how long.
- To see if patients feel better while taking Pemetrexed plus Gemcitabine.
