Cancer Clinical Trials in Baltimore, MD

Management of leptomeningeal disease (LMD) in patients with metastatic breast cancer is an area of unmet clinical need. High-dose methotrexate (HD-MTX) is known to have activity against breast cancer and in contrast to other systemic chemotherapeutics, it penetrates the blood brain barrier, targets areas of poor cerebrospinal fluid flow, may penetrate bulky leptomeningeal disease, and provide treatment to systemic disease burden. While two retrospective studies have suggested activity of HD-MTX in LMD in patients with breast cancer, no prospective data are available to inform its inclusion in treatment regimens. Thus, while HD-MTX is included in the NCCN Guidelines for LMD and while it is used to varying degrees in cancer centers across the nation, this is more representative of the lack of available therapies for LMD as opposed to strong evidence-based data. This phase II, prospective study will evaluate systemic, intravenous HD-MTX in breast cancer patients with leptomeningeal metastasis with or without brain parenchymal metastasis. Read Less

Common goals of breast reconstruction include obtaining satisfactory breast symmetry, softness, and appropriate size and shape. Advances in surgical techniques have prompted a new goal: achieving breast sensation after reconstructive surgery. This desire has led the surgical community to investigate operative techniques for achieving this goal. However, few studies have examined the effectiveness of breast sensory restoration. Sensory nerves are nerves responsible for sensation from skin. When a sensory nerve is cut, sensation is lost to the area supplied by the nerve. In the case of Breast reconstruction this involves the nerves supplying the skin overlying breast(s). 'Neurotization' refers to regeneration of the nerve after it has been cut. This means that the cut nerve is being repaired in order to restore its function. In Neurotization this repair is carried out using a new "source". In this case, the investigators want to restore function of the nerves that supply the skin overlying the breast(s). The investigators will be performing breast reconstruction using tissue from the patient's abdomen and transferring it to the chest wall to repair the mastectomy defect. Sensory function is restored by using the nerve that supplies the skin of this abdominal tissue (i.e the new "source") that is being transferred and attaching it to a nerve in the chest wall. The Avance® Nerve graft is a nerve graft material that has been produced by Axogen, Inc. The graft is made by processing donated human nerves. This graft is used during neurotization to bridge the gap and join the nerve from the abdominal tissue to the nerve in the chest wall. The use of the graft helps the body to attach these 2 nerves and improves nerve repair. When neurotization is done without the nerve graft there is a possibility that the surgeon may require extra nerve material to join the 2 nerves. Traditionally, in this case the surgeon would have to obtain a separate donor nerve from another part of the patient's body. This technique carries the risk of complications to part of the body that the separate donor nerve was obtained from - loss of sensation, infection or neuroma formation (an abnormal growth of nerve tissue that can cause pain, burning or tingling sensation, numbness). The Avance nerve graft avoids the need for the additional donor nerve and the possible complications associated with it. The Avance® Nerve Graft is currently being used in some women during breast reconstruction surgery, however the effectiveness of this procedure in improving the restoration of sensation has not been proven. Women undergoing reconstruction of one breast and at the same time using the women's own tissue as part of standard clinical care, may join. Read Less

This phase III trial compares the effect of stereotactic radiosurgery to standard of care memantine and whole brain radiation therapy that avoids the hippocampus (the memory zone of the brain) for the treatment of small cell lung cancer that has spread to the brain. Stereotactic radiosurgery is a specialized radiation therapy that delivers a single, high dose of radiation directly to the tumor and may cause less damage to normal tissue. Whole brain radiation therapy delivers a low dose of radiation to the entire brain including the normal brain tissue. Hippocampal avoidance during whole-brain radiation therapy (HA-WBRT) decreases the amount of radiation that is delivered to the hippocampus which is a brain structure that is important for memory. The drug, memantine, is also often given with whole brain radiotherapy because it may decrease the risk of side effects related to thinking and memory. Stereotactic radiosurgery may decrease side effects related to memory and thinking compared to standard of care HA-WBRT plus memantine. 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 study is researching an investigational drug called REGN4336. Some participants may receive additional investigational drugs in combination with REGN4336. These additional drugs include REGN5678, cemiplimab and sarilumab. The main purpose of this study is to determine the safety, tolerability (how the body reacts to the drug) and effectiveness of REGN4336 alone, in combination with cemiplimab, or in combination with REGN5678. REGN4336, cemiplimab and REGN5678 are a type of treatment for cancer called immunotherapy,and are intended to activate T-cells to attack cancer cells. This study has 2 parts. The purpose of Part 1 is to determine a safe dose of REGN4336 when given alone or when given in combination with cemiplimab or REGN5678. The purpose of Part 2 is to use the REGN4336 dose(s) determined in Part 1 to further test how well REGN4336 works to shrink tumors either when given alone or in combination with cemiplimab or REGN5678. This study is looking at several other research questions, including: What side effects may happen from taking REGN4336 alone, in combination with cemiplimab, or in combination with REGN5678? How much REGN4336 is in the blood at different times when it is given alone, in combination with cemiplimab, or in combination with REGN5678? Does the body make antibodies against the study drugs (REGN4336, cemiplimab, or REGN5678)? Read Less

The investigators propose a randomized controlled clinical trial in 250 women with a history of early stage breast cancer who are overweight or obese with insomnia to test whether a brief, cognitive-behavioral intervention for insomnia (CBT-I) prior to behavioral weight loss (CBT-I+BWL) is superior to a sleep education control (EDU) condition followed by behavioral weight loss (EDU+BWL). The investigators will measure outcomes at baseline, 8 weeks (after completing CBT-I or EDU and prior to BWL), and at 3, 6, and 12 months. Read Less

This is a single institution, Phase 1 study for patients with Stage III/IV unresectable Kirsten rat sarcoma (KRAS) mutated NSCLC to evaluate safety of the pooled mutant-KRAS peptide vaccine (KRAS peptide vaccine) with polyinosinic-polycytidylic acid (poly-ICLC) adjuvant in combination with nivolumab and ipilimumab in the first line treatment setting. The primary objectives of this study are to determine the safety and feasibility of administering the KRAS peptide vaccine with poly-ICLC adjuvant in combination with nivolumab and ipilimumab. The secondary objectives are to estimate the progression free survival (PFS) of pooled mutant-KRAS long peptide vaccine with poly-ICLC adjuvant in combination with Ipilimumab + Nivolumab for the first line treatment of patients with unresectable Stage III/IV NSCLC whose tumors harbor selected KRAS mutations (KRAS glycine-to-cysteine substitution at codon 12 (G12C), KRAS glycine-to-valine substitution at codon 12 (G12V), KRAS glycine-to-Detoxglyphosate substitution at codon 12 (G12D), KRAS glycine-to-arginine substitution at codon 12 (G12A), KRAS glycine-to-Aspartic Acid "D" at codon 13 (G13D) or KRAS G12R) and to assess the impact of predicted KRAS mutations on mutant-KRAS specific T cell responses in the peripheral blood of these patients. Exploratory objectives will assess the impact of predicted KRAS mutations on mutant-KRAS specific T cell responses in the peripheral blood, as well as changes in circulating tumor deoxyribonucleic acid (ctDNA). Approximately 15 subjects will be enrolled to have 12 evaluable subjects for T cell response assessment. Safety analysis will include all enrolled patients who receive at least one dose of vaccine. The evaluable population for T cell response will consist of all patients who receive at least one dose of vaccine and have baseline and post-treatment T cell measures in the peripheral blood at 12 weeks. Read Less

BR36 will evaluate the potential clinical benefit of tailoring immunotherapy treatment based on ctDNA molecular response in non-small cell lung cancer. Read Less

The purpose of this phase II trial is to determine the efficacy and safety of testosterone replacement therapy (TRT) in improving the symptoms of androgen deficiency and health-related quality of life in men with prostate cancer who have undergone radical prostatectomy. Read Less

Background: - Medical problems and treatments can cause stress in some people. Researchers want to learn more about how to measure distress in young people with medical illnesses. A screening tool called Checking In will be developed in order to help researchers find ways to identify concerns and stresses common to this group. Objective: - To create a screening tool that will help health care providers identify psychological and social distress in young people with serious illnesses. Eligibility: - Outpatient youth ages 8 21 who are enrolled on a research protocol at the NIH at the time of the study. Design: Phase 1 participants will complete a paper-and-pencil version of Checking In. It asks about mood, pain, fatigue, peer relationships, and sleep. During this phase, participants will be asked about the wording of the questions in Checking In. They will also talk about what they thought of the questions and if they understood them. Phase 2 will not involve participant enrollment. During this phase the researchers will be working with technologists to develop the software for an electronic version of Checking In. Phase 3 participants will complete an electronic version of Checking In. Researchers will ask questions about the ease or difficulty of using an electronic screen. Phase 4 participants and one of their caregivers will complete an electronic version of Checking In. They will also complete other questionnaires related to mood, pain fatigue, peer relationships and sleep. They will be asked their thoughts about using Checking In. On the same day, their NIH doctor will get summary data about their questionnaire answers. The doctor will also provide feedback about the summary form. Researchers will compare data from Checking In with data from the other questionnaires. Read Less

This phase III trial compares the effect of adding whole brain radiotherapy with hippocampal avoidance and memantine to stereotactic radiosurgery versus stereotactic radiosurgery alone in treating patients with cancer that has spread to the brain and come back in other areas of the brain after earlier stereotactic radiosurgery. Hippocampus avoidance during whole-brain radiation therapy decreases the amount of radiation that is delivered to the hippocampus, which is a brain structure that is important for memory. The medicine memantine is also often given with whole brain radiation therapy because it may decrease the risk of side effects of radiation on thinking and memory. Stereotactic radiosurgery delivers a high dose of radiation only to the small areas of cancer in the brain and avoids the surrounding normal brain tissue. Adding whole brain radiotherapy with hippocampal avoidance and memantine to stereotactic radiosurgery may be effective in shrinking or stabilizing cancer that has spread to the brain and returned in other areas of the brain after receiving stereotactic radiosurgery. Read Less