Lung Cancer Clinical Trials in Des Moines, IA

This phase III trial compares the effect of adding stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) to the usual treatment (conventional image guided radiation therapy \[IGRT\] and chemotherapy followed by immunotherapy with durvalumab or osimertinib) versus the usual treatment alone in treating patients with non-small cell lung cancer that has spread to nearby tissue or lymph nodes (locally advanced) and 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 a picture of the tumor, to help guide the radiation beam during therapy, making it more accurate and causing less damage to healthy tissue. Usual chemotherapy used in this trial consists of combinations of the following drugs: cisplatin, carboplatin, paclitaxel, nab-paclitaxel, pemetrexed, and etoposide. Cisplatin and carboplatin are in a class of medications known as platinum-containing compounds. Cisplatin works by killing, stopping, or slowing the growth of tumor cells. Carboplatin 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 as well. Paclitaxel is in a class of medications called antimicrotubule agents. It works by stopping the growth and spread of tumor cells. Nab-paclitaxel is an albumin-stabilized nanoparticle formulation of paclitaxel which may have fewer side effects and work better than other forms of paclitaxel. 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 deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) repair and may kill tumor cells. Immunotherapy with durvalumab, may induce changes in the body's immune system and may interfere with the ability of tumor cells to grow and spread. Osimertinib is in a class of medications called kinase inhibitors. It works by blocking the action of a protein called EGFR that signals cancer cells to multiply. This helps slow or stop the spread of tumor cells. Adding SBRT to the usual treatment of IGRT with chemotherapy and immunotherapy may be more effective at treating patients with locally-advanced non-small cell lung cancer than giving the usual treatment alone. Read Less

This phase II Expanded Lung-MAP treatment trial tests tepotinib with or without ramucirumab for the treatment of patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer that has spread from where it first started (primary site) to other places in the body (stage IV) or that has come back after a period of improvement (recurrent). Tepotinib is used in patients whose cancer has a mutated (changed) form of a gene called MET. It is in a class of medications called kinase inhibitors. It works by blocking the action of the abnormal MET protein that signals tumor cells to multiply. This helps slow or stop the spread of tumor cells. Ramucirumab is a monoclonal antibody that may prevent the growth of new blood vessels that tumors need to grow. Giving tepotinib with ramucirumab may lower the chance of the cancer from growing or spreading in patients with stage IV or recurrent non-small cell lung cancer. Read Less

This randomized phase III trial studies how well crizotinib works in treating patients with stage IB-IIIA non-small cell lung cancer that has been removed by surgery and has a mutation in a protein called anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK). Mutations, or changes, in ALK can make it very active and important for tumor cell growth and progression. Crizotinib may stop the growth of tumor cells by blocking the ALK protein from working. Crizotinib may be an effective treatment for patients with non-small cell lung cancer and an ALK fusion mutation. Read Less