Cancer Clinical Trials in Des Moines, IA

The purpose of this study is to evaluate feasibility and acceptability of completing PROs among AYAs randomized to Choice PRO vs Fixed PRO. Read Less

This phase III trial studies how well carvedilol works in preventing cardiac toxicity in patients with human epidermal growth factor receptor (HER)-2-positive breast cancer that has spread to other places in the body. A beta-blocker, such as carvedilol, is used to treat heart failure and high blood pressure, and it may prevent the heart from side effects of chemotherapy. Read Less

This randomized research trial studies how well serum tumor marker directed disease monitoring works in monitoring patients with hormone receptor positive Her2 negative breast cancer that has spread to other places in the body. Using markers to prompt when scans should be ordered may be as good as the usual approach to monitoring disease. Read Less

The goal of this clinical research study is to evaluate a method involving a blood test, called CA-125, that may be helpful in the early detection of ovarian cancer in women who are at low risk. Read Less

This phase III trial compares the effect of the combination of ramucirumab and pembrolizumab versus standard of care chemotherapy for the treatment of non-small cell lung cancer that is stage IV or that has come back after a period of improvement (recurrent). Ramucirumab is a monoclonal antibody that may prevent the growth of new blood vessels that tumors need to grow. Immunotherapy with monoclonal antibodies, such as pembrolizumab, may help the body's immune system attack the cancer, and may interfere with the ability of tumor cells to grow and spread. Chemotherapy drugs work in different ways to stop the growth of tumor cells, either by killing the cells, by stopping them from dividing, or by stopping them from spreading. This trial may help doctors find out if giving ramucirumab with pembrolizumab is more effective at treating patients with stage IV or recurrent non-small cell lung cancer than standard chemotherapy. Read Less

This phase III trial compares less intense hormone therapy and radiation therapy to usual hormone therapy and radiation therapy in treating patients with high risk prostate cancer and low gene risk score. This trial also compares more intense hormone therapy and radiation therapy to usual hormone therapy and radiation therapy in patients with high risk prostate cancer and high gene risk score. Apalutamide may help fight prostate cancer by blocking the use of androgen by the tumor cells. Radiation therapy uses high energy rays to kill tumor cells and shrink tumors. Giving a shorter hormone therapy treatment may work the same at controlling prostate cancer compared to the usual 24 month hormone therapy treatment in patients with low gene risk score. Adding apalutamide to the usual treatment may increase the length of time without prostate cancer spreading as compared to the usual treatment in patients with high gene risk score. Read Less

This phase II trial tests whether ado-trastuzumab emtansine works to shrink tumors in patients with HER2-positive salivary gland cancer that has come back (recurrent), spread to other places in the body (metastatic), or cannot be removed by surgery (unresectable). Trastuzumab emtansine is a monoclonal antibody, called trastuzumab, linked to a chemotherapy drug called emtansine. Trastuzumab attaches to HER2 positive cancer cells in a targeted way and delivers emtansine to kill them. Trastuzumab emtansine may work better compared to usual treatment of chemotherapy with docetaxel and trastuzumab in treating patients with salivary gland cancer. Read Less

This phase II trial tests whether relugolix and radiation therapy works to shrink tumors in patients with prostate cancer that has spread in a limited way to 1 to 5 other parts of the body (oligometastatic). Testosterone can cause the growth of prostate cancer cells. Relugolix lowers the amount of testosterone made by the body. This may help stop the growth of tumor cells that need testosterone to grow. Giving relugolix with radiation therapy may help lower the chance of prostate cancer growing or spreading. Read Less

This phase III trial compares the effect of adding stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) to standard treatment (image guided radiation therapy [IGRT] and chemotherapy followed by immunotherapy with durvalumab) versus standard treatment alone in treating patients with non-small cell lung cancer that cannot be treated by surgery (inoperable). SBRT uses special equipment to position a patient and deliver radiation to tumors with high precision. This method may kill tumor cells with fewer doses over a shorter period and cause less damage to normal tissue. IGRT is a type of radiation that uses a computer to create picture of the tumor, to help guide the radiation beam during therapy, making it more accurate and causing less damage to healthy tissue. Standard chemotherapy used in this trial consists of combinations of the following drugs: cisplatin, carboplatin, paclitaxel, pemetrexed, and etoposide. Cisplatin is in a class of medications known as platinum-containing compounds. It works by killing, stopping or slowing the growth of tumor cells. Carboplatin is in a class of medications known as platinum-containing compounds. It works in a way similar to the anticancer drug cisplatin, but may be better tolerated than cisplatin. Carboplatin works by killing, stopping or slowing the growth of tumor cells. Paclitaxel is in a class of medications called antimicrotubule agents. It works by stopping the growth and spread of tumor cells. Pemetrexed is in a class of medications called antifolate antineoplastic agents. It works by blocking the action of a certain substance in the body that may help tumor cells multiply. Etoposide is in a class of medications known as podophyllotoxin derivatives. It blocks a certain enzyme needed for cell division and DNA repair and may kill tumor cells. Immunotherapy with durvalumab, may induce changes in body's immune system and may interfere with the ability of tumor cells to grow and spread. Adding SBRT to the standard treatment of IGRT with chemotherapy and immunotherapy may be more effective at treating patients with inoperable non-small cell lung cancer than giving the standard treatment alone. Read Less

This phase III trial studies whether adding apalutamide to the usual treatment improves outcome in patients with lymph node positive prostate cancer after surgery. Radiation therapy uses high energy x-ray to kill tumor cells and shrink tumors. Androgens, or male sex hormones, can cause the growth of prostate cancer cells. Drugs, such as apalutamide, may help stop or reduce the growth of prostate cancer cell growth by blocking the attachment of androgen to its receptors on cancer cells, a mechanism similar to stopping the entrance of a key into its lock. Adding apalutamide to the usual hormone therapy and radiation therapy after surgery may stabilize prostate cancer and prevent it from spreading and extend time without disease spreading compared to the usual approach. Read Less

To determine whether an Internet-based pain coping skills program plus enhanced usual care, compared to enhanced usual care alone, yields significant improvements in the co-primary outcomes of pain severity (as measured by the Brief Pain Inventory (BPI)) and pain interference (also measured by the BPI) from baseline to the post-intervention assessment for cancer survivors with persistent pain. Read Less

This phase III trial studies how well the addition of radiotherapy to the usual treatment (chemotherapy) works compared to the usual treatment alone in treating patients with esophageal and gastric cancer that has spread to a limited number of other places in the body (oligometastatic disease). Radiotherapy uses high energy x-rays, gamma rays, or protons to kill tumor cells and shrink tumors. Drugs used in usual chemotherapy, such as leucovorin, 5-fluorouracil, oxaliplatin, and capecitabine, work in different ways to stop the growth of tumor cells, either by killing the cells, by stopping them from dividing, or by stopping them from spreading. Adding radiotherapy to the usual chemotherapy may work better compared to the usual chemotherapy alone in treating patients with esophageal and gastric cancer. Read Less